Rebuilding
by Rude's Mom
Summary: Post-Chosen. The Council is recruiting researchers. Crossover with Stargate SG1. COMPLETE 1 Nov 2004.
1. Chapter 1

Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Rating: G

Feedback: First fic, please be kind, very kind

* * *

It was kind of ironic. They had been so obsessed with finding the new slayers during the past year, they had neglected the support staff. Sure, they could teach the girls how to stake and behead but teach them to read Sumerian curses, Norse runes, and Egyptian prophecies? That was a job for the researchers, most of whom had not survived the explosion at the Watcher headquarters. The Bringers had slaughtered most of the survivors -- not making any distinction between them and the Potentials and Watchers. For millenia, the Watchers's Council searched for, retrieved, and trained the Potentials. Now, the slayers had to rebuild the Council.

While many of the old Council were drawn from "Watcher families," the Council had been wise enough not to discount new blood. They funded many off-the-wall research projects over the years, projects that rarely fit the neatly defined standards of most mainstream funders. The grants from the "Travers Foundatioan" had been a double-edged sword for many recipients. Those who published their results were often laughed out of academia. It made the chosen few easier to recruit but drove the rest into obscurity.

She was on her way to meet and hopefully recruit one of the rest. He had received funding in the early 1990's only to disappear after publicly arguing that the Egyptians had not built pyramids, that in fact, the pyramids were far older than the accept date. He had resurfaced about a year later in Colorado working for the Air Force only to disappear again a few years later. The second disappearance probably saved his life, a number of grant recipients had also died at the hands of the Bringers. She looked at the information in his file again -- linguist, doctor of archaeology, orphaned at age eight. Hmm, no family, usually a plus with the Council. Why hadn't he been recruited? Oh there it was, "lacks ruthlessness, too soft." She snorted in amusement as the taxi slowed to a halt.

After paying the driver, she started up the walkway to the front door of the house. She rang the doorbell and a few moments later the door opened.

"Dr. Jackson? My name is Buffy Summers and I represent the "Travers Foundation..."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SG-1

Rating: G, will probably go up to PG-13 at some point

AN: A great big thank you to my first reviewers -- captuniv, Rosie W, MegCat, thsutton, little-lost-one, and Glory

* * *

"Dr. Jackson? My name is Buffy Summers and I represent the Travers Foundation..." 

Dr. Daniel Jackson was not having a good day. He hadn't had a good day in months. Not since his best friend ended up as a popsicle in Antarctica. This was all he needed, a visitor from the Travers Foundation. He realized that the little blonde was still speaking.

"Miss, um, Summers," he interrupted. "I have no desire to have anything further to do with the Travers Foundation. If you will excuse me." He tried to close the door only to find a foot firmly in place on the threshold.

"Dr. Jackson, the terms of the funding were quite specific. The Foundation reserved the right to request your services at a future date. Please, let me in so that we can discuss this in private."

"In private?"

Buffy glanced towards the house on the right. "I think we have a bit of an audience."

Daniel reluctantly opened the door further to allow her in. She entered and he closed the door behind her. They moved into the living and sat down.

"Miss Summers..."

"Please call me Buffy."

"Miss Summers, my dealings with the Foundation effectively destroyed my academic career years ago. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't published so much as a journal article in over a decade."

"While I can understand your reluctance to have anything to do with the Foundation it was only partially to blame for your less than illustrious career. The Foundation's funding made it possible for _you_ to pursue _your_ research. _You_ were the one that developed a theory about the pyramids that flew in the face of conventional scholarship. _You_ were the one who was naive enough to think that academic establishment would accept your theory."

Daniel's temper started to burn. "Makes one wonder why they funded my research doesn't it?"

Buffy had the grace to blush.

"You are right, there was an ulterior motive. The Foundation has always been on the lookout for brilliant minds that looked beyond the accepted world view. By funding unorthodox projects they gained not only the research but the researchers. The clause in the funding contract was only part of it. They knew that promising careers would be destroyed, making it easier to recruit the researcher. You would have been recruited except for the fact that you were considered to be too decent, soft in fact. You didn't have the level of ruthlessness that they required."

"So, why show up now? Have I become hard enough for them? Ruthless enough?"

"Actually, its kind of the opposite. Two years ago the Foundation had a major shake-up. Most of the old board have been replaced. Most of the Foundation's researchers were lost at the same time. We are in the process of contacting a number of people formerly considered not quite hard enough."

"So if you are in the process of creating a kinder and gentler Foundation, why are you attempting to 'draft' me? Nothing you have said so far makes me want to have anything to do with it."

Buffy was getting impatient at this point. Stubborn was apparently Daniel Jackson's middle name.

"The research that the Foundation does is important and we want the best people conducting on that research. You are one of the best, despite your non-career. Your intelligence and curiosity were noted years ago, the fact that you are also a decent person is no longer considered a problem. And I am attempting to recruit not draft you.

"I'll be in town for a few days. I'd like to leave some documents with you." She placed a large envelope on the coffee table. "Just look them over. If you are interested, give me a call and we'll talk. My cell phone number is in there as is some other contact information. I'll see myself out."

An hour later, Daniel's curiosity won out and he opened the envelope. He stared in disbelief and reached for the telephone.

"General Hammond, we have a security breach..."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: G, will probably go up to PG-13 at some point

* * *

General Hammond entered the briefing room accompanied by Major Davis. Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c were already in their usual seats.

"Earlier today, Dr. Jackson was contacted by a woman with information regarding the Stargate and the Gou'ald. Dr. Jackson, can you bring everyone up to speed?"

"Miss Summers attempted to hire me on behalf of the Travers Foundation. Apparently there are number of openings for researchers following a major shake up a couple of years ago. I was contacted because I had received funding from them in the early 90's. She left an envelope containing four photographs of artifacts." An image of a tablet appeared on the wall monitor. "One was of a fragment of tablet written in Gou'ald. What remains of the inscription reads 'accursed is the name of Sineya the Destroyer, enemy of' and 'cast Ra through the Chappaii.'" An image of a second tablet replaced the first on the monitor. "This tablet was written in Sumerian. It refers the a daughter of the Destroyer coming from the desert and attacking the temple of Ishtar, killing many of the priests and guards before being killed herself. It is possible that this second Destroyer is the same one from the Gou'ald tablet." An image of wall painting replaced the tablet. "This image appears to be Aztec in origin. It is unusual in that of the two central figures, the male figure is not portrayed in an active role. The female figure however seems to be a warrior. I have no idea what this is supposed to represent or what she has killed. The object in the last photograph is one you will probably recognize." An image of a circular coverstone filled the monitor. "The photo was taken at Giza at the Langford dig in 1928. It is also a photograph that is not supposed to exist."

"Thank you Dr. Jackson. Major Davis, what do we know about the Travers Foundation and Miss Summers?"

"The Travers Foundation can be traced back to the early nineteenth century. A wealthy merchant in London, one Rupert Travers, provided funding for several archaeological expeditions. The family continued the tradition, expanding it to include research fellowships, and eventually created the Foundation. The Travers Foundation provided the funding for the Langford dig at Giza in the late 1920's."

"Couldn't that explain the photograph of the coverstone?" asked Carter.

"It might," replied Davis. "That they also provided funding for Dr. Jackson's research makes it plausible that this is all just a coincidence but two years ago, there was a massive explosion at their headquarters in England. Most of their governing board and on-site staff, including a number of the members of the Travers family, were killed. At the time, Scotland Yard officially classified it as an accident, the result of a gas leak. However, several months before the explosion, a number of people associated the Foundation were murdered. No one made the connection until much later since the murder victims were living in a number of different countries."

"And how does Miss Summers fit in?"

"General Hammond, she is the most worrying aspect of this. Records concerning Buffy Summers are rather scarce since she was a resident of Sunnydale. You may recall that last year the entire town was destroyed when the cave system underneath it collapsed. However, the woman Dr. Jackson met may not actually be Buffy Summers. After Sunnydale was destroyed Miss Summers and her younger sister traveled to England with a Rupert Giles before moving to Italy. She and her sister are currently living in Rome. However, there is no record of her returning to the United States nor any record of her staying at any hotel within a hundred mile radius of Colorado Springs."

"Do you have any information on the real Buffy Summers?"

"Yes and we might be better off if 'our' Buffy is an imposter. The real one has been a suspect in burning down a school gymnasium, numerous acts of gang violence, and two murders and that was before she graduated from high school. On graduation day, her high school blew up, a 'gas leak' was the official explanation. While in college, it appears that she was involved with a highly classified military project run by the Army and the NID. I have been unable to access any records detailing that project, but it appears that there were a large number of casualties before the project was shut down. She is currently listed as a security consultant with the Travers Foundation."

"Sir," Carter addressed General Hammond. "Has anyone attempted to find out if Dr. Langford has any information any of this? If Miss Summers is legitimate isn't possible that she may try to contact her?"

"You may be right Major. I think that it is time for SG-1 to visit the good doctor. In the meantime, Major Davis will organize two surveillance teams, one for Dr. Jackson's home and another for Dr. Langford's. Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13 thanks to someone's potty mouth

* * *

Could his life get any worse? School sucked, his friends had blown him off, and his summer job prospects were less than satisfactory. Sure he loved pizza but he so did not want to spend the next three months making them. Life at sixteen was depressing. And where the hell was he anyway? He had been walking around aimlessly for the last couple of hours and now found himself in an unfamiliar part of town . "We help the hopeless" read the sign next to the entrance to the building. What the hell, JT thought, and he opened the door and entered the "Family Home."

---

Buffy checked the clock beside her bed for the second time in as many minutes. Xander wasn't due back for a couple of hours and she was bored. She had hoped to spend some time with Dr. Jackson. She certainly had not expected him to be so hostile. Okay, the Travers Foundation, one of the public faces of the Watchers' Council, had royally screwed up his hopes for a brilliant career but he had at least found steady employment with Air Force. (Although she did wonder why NORAD would have a linguist/anthropologist on the payroll. Now if had been the Initiative he was working for, she wouldn't have come within a hundred miles of him.) Anyway, she was offering him a chance to resume his research, couldn't he have at least listened? She checked the clock again.

Deciding a nice long run was called for, she changed her clothes, swapping the morning's tweedy suit for a tank top and sweat pants. Leaving a note for Xander, she left their hotel room.

About twenty minutes into her run, she wasn't bored anymore. She stood in front of the storefront in disbelief. It was another "Family Home" shelter and it looked like "Ken" was inside. She was fairly certain that it was that it wasn't the same Ken since she was sure he hadn't survived her foray into his hell dimension back in 1998. On the other hand, she was certain that this was a front for a portal to a hell dimension. There had been too many slaves there for the other "Family Home" in California to be the only entrance.

She moved further down the street and into a nearby alley. She pulled out her cell phone and placed a call to Xander. "Come on Xander, pick up."

"Hi, this is Xander. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you."

"Xander, something has come up. Remember the summer before senior year? Seems Colorado Springs has a "Family Home" doorway to hell. I'm going to check it out. Do not come after me, time runs at a different speed in most hell dimensions so by the time you get this message I will probably be back already. If I'm not back by this evening, you'll have to visit Dr. Langford alone. If I'm not back by tomorrow, well, I probably won't be coming back at all."

She replaced the cell phone in her pocket and headed back to the shelter.

----

Less than hour later, a man and a woman exited the shelter. Looking around the woman said, "I'm pretty sure the hotel was this way."

They stopped at a newspaper vending machine. "Damn, you were right. How the hell am I supposed to explain how I suddenly aged fifteen years since this morning?"

"Look on the bright side, no more high school. And don't worry, I've told you that the Council can provide you with a new identity."

An hour later they arrived at the hotel. At Room 145, Buffy knocked on the door.

"Buffy? What the..."

"Just let us in Xander," she said tiredly.

Xander moved aside to allow the scruffy pair to enter. "Whose your new friend?"

"Jonathan Thorsonn. JT meet Xander Harris."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13 thanks to someone's potty mouth

* * *

"JT, why don't you get cleaned up first. " 

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"I need to talk to Xander and until I do, I don't think I should leave you alone with him."

Xander waited until JT went to shower before exploding. "Damn it Buffy. You just had to take the lonesome detour through hell didn't you? Backup equals fewer casualties or don't you remember? Haven't we lost enough people for this decade?"

"Haven't we had this discussion before?" she groaned. She sat down one of the beds. "There was no telling how many people had been abducted though that portal. An hour here was years there, I just couldn't wait. I had to do something and waiting for backup wasn't an option and you know it."

"Okay, how long were you there? No offense but you look like..."

"Don't say it. I was there for nearly two years."

------

She had been attacked as soon as she entered the shelter. Apparently she had made quite an impression the last time. After taking out Ken and his friend, she began looking for the portal. She didn't see Ken's other friend until it was to late and she was falling through the portal.

She woke up tied to a pillar in a courtyard. She looked around. Yep, it looked like the same place as last time. This time it looked as if she had an audience. Yet another "Ken" exhorted the crowd of slaves, "you are no one. This" he pointed to her "is no one. You will work, you will not speak."

"Hey, can't you guys spring for new masks? I mean, really, do you all want to look alike?"

Oops, wrong thing to say she thought as she felt a blow to the side of her head. It was followed by several others to various parts of her body. Ken continued, "Disobedience will be punished. You work and you will live." The blows kept coming and she lost consciousness. This time she woke up in her own private cage.

The next day, she was dragged out of the cage and retied to the pillar.

It was a pattern that would be repeated daily. She did not understand why. The slaves did not even look at her so it was doubtful that the public beatings were serving any purpose. The slaves were already broken and mindless, they had become nothing.

It was during the third month that something changed. There was one tall, bearded slave who actually looked at her. Not directly, but she was sure that he did look at her. After that, she tried to pick him out each day. Most of the time she couldn't find him.

Two weeks later she was woken up by a hand placed over her mouth. It was the bearded man. He motioned her to be quiet. She nodded her understanding. He removed his hand and moved over to the lock on the cage door. She watched as he picked the lock and opened the door. She followed him out of the courtyard.

------

"So instead being the rescuer you had to be rescued? By JT?"

"Yeah."

"So if that only took a couple of months, why were you there for two years?"

"The portal was heavily guarded and I wasn't in any shape to fight my way out. I was half-starved and several broken ribs and a broken arm. Even with JT's help there is no way we could have gotten out at that point."

"Back to JT, how come he wasn't a mindless slave like the rest?"

Buffy finally smiled. "He escaped the factory shortly after arriving. He saw me during a supply raid."

"Okay, then why was he raiding for supplies? Why didn't he just use the portal as soon as he escaped?"

"Because I didn't know about the portal until later. I was unconscious when I went through it. The demons didn't bother with tricking folks. They just knocked them out and threw them though the portal." JT walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Xander, do have any clothes that I can borrow?"

"Um, yeah. Hold on a sec." Xander went to his suitcase and pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans. He handed them to JT along with a pair of undershorts.

JT went back into the bathroom.

Buffy stood up. "Xander, can we finish this later? I really need to get cleaned up and JT and I are both starving. Could you get us something to eat?"

"You don't want to let me talk to him alone do you?" Xander deduced. He checked his wallet. "Just tell me one thing before I head out. You aren't avoiding any unpleasant little details are you? He's not a demon or something is he?"

"Nope. 100% human clone. Now go," she said as she maneuvered him out the door before he could say anything else.

"What do you mean clone?" Xander stared at the outside of the hotel door. "Why couldn't he just be a demon?" he muttered as he went in search of food. Chinese would be good.

JT, his newly washed hair drying to a light brown, came back out of the bathroom. "So how did it go?"

"Pretty good so far. He really hasn't taken a good look at me yet."

"Its gonna to be hard to miss even he does have only one eye."

"I know." She moved to her suitcase and picked out a loose sundress.

"Need any help in there?"

"No, besides Xander will really freak if he catches us in the shower together."

"So it's over then?" he quipped.

"No silly. Xander is just overprotective. We need to break this gently." She kissed him and went into the bathroom.

"Hey, do ya think he'll bring any beer back?"


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13

A/N: Thank you to all the wonderful folks who have taken the time to leave a review (or two or more!).

* * *

"Hello Catherine. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Of course not Daniel. Please come in." Dr. Langford opened the door wider. "Sam, Teal'c. It's good to see you."

"It's good to you see again as well DoctorLangford," Teal'c said as they followed her into the living room.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. This isn't a social call is it" she asked looking at their faces. She sat down on the couch next to Sam.

"No its not," Sam said. "We need to ask you some questions about the Travers Foundation. It provided most of the original funding for the Giza dig didn't it?"

"Yes it did. Why?"

"A woman supposedly representing the Foundation contacted Daniel this morning. She said that the Foundation wanted to hire him and she left several photographs for him to look at. One photograph was a picture of the coverstone at Giza, another was a tablet written in Goa'uld."

Dr. Langford rose from the couch and walked over to the window. She stared out blindly at the front yard.

"Catherine?

"Were those the only photographs?"

"No, why?"

"What were the others of?"

"A tablet in Sumerian and an Aztec wallpainting."

"Did you translate them Daniel?"

"Yes, but..."

"What did they say?"

"The Goa'uld tablet referred to Sineya the Destroyer, Ra, and the Stargate. The Sumerian tablet told of a daughter of the Destroyer. I don't know what the wallpainting means. Catherine, do you know what this is about?"

She turned around to look directly at Daniel. "Does the representative know that you have translated the tablets?"

"No. I didn't open the envelope until after she left."

"Good." Catherine continued, "the Travers Foundation is a cover for another, much older group, one that has roots reaching back to the beginning of recorded history. They are the Council. They guard their secrets well and Sineya is among the greatest of those secrets. I don't know why they would allow an outsider to see those photographs. Please don't take this the wrong way Daniel but you are not Council material."

"Miss Summers, the young woman who came to see me, said there had there had been a shake-up at the board level and there were a number of openings for researchers. They were also hiring people who were less 'hard' than before."

"A shake-up? Not with that bunch of old men. They are ruled by tradition. There must be something else going on."

Sam nodded. "From what we have learned there was an explosion at their headquarters two years ago. A gas leak was the official reason."

"Were there any survivors?"

"Not at the headquarters but some staff that were in the field did survive."

"Only some?"

"A number of people connected with the Foundation who were murdered in the months leading up to the explosion."

"It is possible that someone who didn't realize the significance of the artifacts authorized Miss Summers to show you those photographs," Catherine said quietly. "It is also possible that they are so desperate to refill their ranks that they knowingly showed you those pictures. They are quite capable of killing you if you chose not to join them. As I said, they carefully guard their secrets."

"DoctorLangford, you appear to have great knowledge of those secrets. Are you not also a threat?"

"Not really, Teal'c. My adoptive father was a member of the Council. As far as they are concerned, I am family, a part of the Council, inactive for decades but still one of them. And unlike my father, my information was limited to need-to-know. Besides, at my age I can be easily dismissed as a foolish old woman if I decided to talk. Dr. Jackson, while a discredited academic, just might be listened to."

Catherine returned to couch and sat back down next to Sam.

"Catherine, we are not sure that the young woman who contacted Daniel was from the Foundation or the Council. She gave her name as Buffy Summers but as far as we know Buffy Summers is living in Rome and hasn't returned the U.S. in nearly a year. "

"The Council excels in subterfuge Sam. They are quite capable of getting someone into this country without anyone knowing, even post 9/11. Daniel, how young was she?"

"Early twenties."

"Actually she is twenty-three if she really is Miss Summers," Sam added.

"Do you have any other information about Miss Summers? A police record of gang violence perhaps?"

"Nothing that was ever proved. She was also a suspect in several murders and a bombing. In college she was linked to a top secret Army project. She and her sister lived in Sunnydale, California, until last year. After the town was destroyed they traveled to England with a Rupert Giles. She is currently living in Rome and is listed as security consultant with the Foundation."

"She is almost certainly who she claims to be although it is highly unusual that the Council would have anything to do with the military. But with that record, she could be the Slayer although it is more likely that she is a former Potential. The Giles family is one of the old Council families."

"Slayer, Potential?"

"The daughters of Sineya. The Slayer is a Potential who has been chosen. There is only one slayer but many potentials. Slayers are called between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Most only last one or two years, especially the younger ones. To make it to twenty-three Miss Summers would have to be most extraordinary if she is the Slayer."

"What do you mean most only last a year or two? What happens to them?"

"They die. Daniel, the Slayer is a warrior. She fights against the evil that most do not see. How many cultures have stories of monsters, demons, vampires?"

"Almost all but that's all they are, stories."

"No, they are not. They are real. As real as the Goa'uld. The Slayer has the strength to fight them but with each battle there is a chance she will fall. In the end, she will fall and the next slayer is called."

"And their relationship with the Council?"

"The Council identifies the Potentials. Since they don't control which Potential is called they try to prepare all of them. They provide each girl with a Watcher who trains them. Mr. Giles was probably her Watcher."

"And you think that Miss Summers is either a Slayer or a Potential?"

"A former Potential. She is too old to be a Potential. I hope that she is the Slayer."

"You hope she is the Slayer?" Daniel asked.

"Slayers don't kill humans, a former Potential might, especially one that is employed as a security consultant. The Council has resorted to extreme measures from time to time."

Sam's cell phone rang.

"Carter here." A concerned look crossed her face. She turned to Catherine. "A woman matching Miss Summers' description has been spotted in the neighborhood. Catherine, do you know why she might try to contact you?"

"No. I haven't had direct contact with the Council since my father died in 1957."

"Is she headed this way? Airman?"

Sam looked at her teammates. "I've lost contact with the survelliance unit."


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13

* * *

Xander returned about an hour later with a large sack of food. He knocked on door. JT opened the door. He entered and saw Buffy curled up on her bed watching TV.

"So what did you get?"

"Chinese -- Gen Gau's chicken, pork spare ribs, spring rolls, fried rice, fried wontons. " He placed the bag on the table.

"Any beer?"

"No, picked up a couple of cans of diet Coke instead. Buffy and beer. Scary combo."

Buffy threw a pillow at Xander. "When are you gonna let that one go Xander? Besides, you were the one supplying tainted alcohol to an underaged coed. Kinda makes it your fault."

Xander tossed the pillow back at Buffy. "You were old enough to know better."

"That's enough campers, its meal time." JT started rooting through the bag. He pulled out a couple of containers. "Chopsticks? Couldn't you have asked for some plastic forks or something?"

"Best friend comes back from a hell dimension two years older with a new friend in tow. Sorry, a little distracted. Forgot to ask for plates too." Xander opened the container of spring rolls.

Buffy got up and walked over to the table. "JT, we've been using our fingers for awhile. I think you can cope." She ignored the chop sticks and grabbed the box of spare ribs. She sat down in the chair with the best view of the television.

Xander and JT sat down as well and started to dig in.

"So, how long were you there for JT? And when are you going home?"

"Xander..."

"No, its okay Buffy. I was there for about fifteen years, I'm really not sure. As for going home, it's not really an option anymore. Buffy thinks that I might want to go to work for the Council since I have quite a bit of experience with demons and a hell dimension."

"Shit, you must have been just a kid. How old were you? How did you survive?"

"Sixteen. Special ops training."

"Since when are kids special ops?" Xander asked. "Wait a sec, Buff, you said he was a clone. Please tell me the Initiative isn't cloning soldiers."

JT looked to Buffy, "I thought we weren't going to mention that. Classified remember?" He turned back to Xander. "I was cloned from a colonel in the Air Force and the Initiative had nothing to do with it. Neither did the Air Force. An unnamed third party decided to try a little unauthorized science experiment. I was supposed to be an exact duplicate. It didn't work out as planned. I got a teenage body and an adult mind."

"So how old are you inside your head?"

"Mid-sixties."

"Cool."

"Not really. The original got to keep my life, my job, and my friends. I ended up in high school again."

"High school?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time since the Air Force really isn't ready for a teenage colonel. Turns out school was even more boring than it was the first time around. Not to mention being around all those teenagers." He shuddered.

"Well, high schools are known to be filled with them. At least it wasn't sitting on a hellmouth. It wasn't was it?"

Buffy finished the spare ribs and made a grab for one of Xander's spring rolls.

"Geez Buffy. A little hungry are we?"

"Hey, eating for two..." Buffy's voice trailed off.

Xander carefully placed a half-eaten roll down. "Buffy..."

Okay, how to explain this, she panicked as she realized she had forgotten her carefully planned script. She looked pleading at JT.

He shook his head and smirked. Fortunately his beard hid most of the smirk. This was going to be fun.

She took a deep breath and quickly said, "JT and I feel in love about a year ago. No condoms in that dimension and the rythym method isn't real reliable if you don't have a calendar." There that was pretty good.

Xander just sat there trying to process everything. Eventually JT waved a hand in front of his face. Xander blinked and looked at JT.

"You are going to marry her aren't you? I don't want Buffy to be a bad example to Dawn."

Buffy spoke up. "Xander! That is none of your business. You are not my parent."

JT decided to intervene before the conversation deteriorated further. "Yes, I am but I have to get of few things squared away first."

"Like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe new birth certificate that indicates I'm old enough to get married? Not to mention letting certain people know that I'm all grown up so that they don't start a search for a missing sixteen year old colonel."

"Giles and Willow can take care of the first part."

"Oh, uh, Buffy, you might want to call Giles now."

"Why?"

"Well, when I got your message I called him."

"And you waited this long to tell me?"

Buffy got up from the table, finally managing to snag one of the spring rolls. She moved over to her bed and picked up the telephone "What's the telephone number? Oh here it is."

"Hey Giles!" She winced. "I know, Xander already read me the riot act. But I'm back...I'm fine...I need you to arrange for papers for someone...yes...He was stuck there for fifteen years...Jonathan Thorsonn...two ens...yes that's his real name, he wants to keep it...thirty, thirty-one...light brown hair, brown eyes, six foot one. We'll fed ex his photo to Cleveland...He didn't sound receptive...Yes I left the photos...Yes, I know we are on a tight schedule...I'll go see Dr. Langford tonight..." The conversation continued for a couple more minutes before she hung up.

"Everythings set JT. We should have your new id by the end of the week."

"You going see a Dr. Langford tonight? Would that be Catherine Langford?"

"Yes. Giles isn't cutting me any slack. She is part of the reason Xander and I came to Colorado Springs. The Council was hoping to hire her and a Dr. Jackson. I don't think Dr. Jackson will be agreeable but Dr. Langford has family ties to the Council."

"Oh, I can bet that Danny won't be signing up anytime soon."

"Danny? Your Danny is Dr. Jackson?

"Yep."

"Shit. Do you think he'll tell Jack and the rest of the team?"

"And General Hammond. And I'll bet they have Danny under surveillance and possibly Dr. Langford if they can dig up any ties to your Council."

"One of the photographs that I left with Dr. Jackson was a picture of a coverstone at Giza. The Travers Foundation funded the dig. I contacted him as a representative of the Foundation."

"She'll be under surveillance then."

Buffy started to look a little green and ran into the bathroom.

"Morning sickness."

"In the afternoon?"

"It can happen anytime. Sara would get it in the middle of the night."

"Sara?"

"My, well my other self's, ex-wife."

JT opened another can of soda and poured some into one of plastic cups that the hotel had provided. He knocked on the bathroom door and entered. He came back out a minute later without the cup.

"She be fine in a couple of minutes. So, we need to visit Dr. Langford tonight."

"Buffy and I do. This is Council stuff."

"Xander, this also my 'stuff.' In case you weren't listening earlier, this involves my world. Daniel is part of a top secret military program, one that, until I was cloned, I was a part of.. The photo of the coverstone is the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater. You will not get anywhere near Daniel or Dr. Langford. And right now they are investigating Buffy, the Foundation, and anybody that close to either. Buffy's told me that you, Willow, and Giles have been together for what seven, eight years? They'll will be looking for you too. If I go with you, I can probably stop or at least slow the investigation down." He looked up as Buffy left the bathroom. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, we probably should head out now."

-----

Xander parked the rental car about half a mile from their destination. Buffy and Xander waited in the car while JT did some reconnaissance.

"You're really in love with this guy? I mean at least he's alive but...are you really sure? I mean for two years he was the only guy available. And let's not forget how well your last military romance went."

"Xander, we are good for each other. He makes me feel whole in a way I haven't felt since you and Willow brought me back. And unlike Riley, he is strong enough to love me being me. He's not threatened it. And I can be there for him, he needs me. After he was cloned, he was cut loose from his old life. His family, friends, everything was gone. After he rescued me, he took care of me. When I got better, we took care of each other and became allies, then friends. It wasn't love at first sight, the love came later but it is real."

JT knocked on the car window. "There's a unit just down the street from Dr. Langford's. Buffy, if you distract them, Xander and I should be able to neutralize them."

Xander looked a bit worried. "You don't mean permanently neutralize do you?"

"Well," he paused, "since we are the good guys and so are they, guess we'll just have to settle for knocking them out."

"JT, cut it out. Xander is freaked enough by your military background. Remember the Initiative?" Buffy softend it with a smile. "Do you think just walking by will distract them or should I go right up to them.?"

"Walking by should be fine. Hopefully they don't know about Xander yet so they won't be expecting anything if they can see you. We'll meet up with you as soon as they are sleeping. Oh, and I think I saw Daniel's car on the street


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

Title: Rebuilding 

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13

A/N: For those concerned how JT knows about the Initiative, he and Buffy have been together for close to two years. Let's just say it came up in conversation at some point, probably when Buffy found out that JT is former military. Why didn't Buffy connect the dots that Danny was Dr. Jackson? She had only met Dr. Jackson once, he was just another assignment from three months before she met JT. As for JT being bossy, his relationship with Buffy began when he rescued a badly injured Buffy so in effect, he was in charge at least at first. Also, let's not forget his military background, he can give orders. But don't worry, Buffy isn't and won't be a doormat. As to the long detour in the hell dimension, Buffy was able to kick ass the first time because she had surprise on her side (humans aren't supposed to fight back). This time if you recall the third demon got the jump on her resulting in three months of being a punching bag. The demons knew about the slayer and what she was capable of. Escape just wasn't going to be as easy this time. Okay, on with the show.

* * *

As Buffy approached Dr. Langford's home she noticed a late model sedan parked on the street. She snickered when she read the bumper sticker."Archaeologists do it in holes." She wondered if JT or Jack was responsible, it was certainly tasteless enough. She continued walking down the street for another five minutes before she headed back to Dr. Langford's. 

---

"Daniel, call General Hammond and let him know that we have a problem. Teal'c stay here while I check on the surveillance unit."

"MajorCarter?"

"If there is going to be an attack here, you will stand a better chance than I will."

---

Buffy saw a blonde woman leave the doctor's house and head towards the surveillance truck. This could be interesting she thought as she saw JT walking from the direction of the truck. The woman passed JT. And where was Xander? Please don't let anything have gone wrong. She hurried her pace to meet him outside of the Langford home.

"JT, is Xander alright? Did everything go well?"

"He's fine. He just went to bring to car in closer. And also to pick up the papers you forgot" JT added, "Jack is gonna chew someone a new one. The flyboys in the truck didn't put up much of fight. You were right about Xander. He's a good fighter."

"Was that Carter?" JT nodded as they turned up the walkway to the front door. Buffy rang the bell.

Catherine went to answer the door only to be stopped by Teal'c.

"That would not be advisable DoctorLangford."

"I don't think that not answering the door will stop the Council," she said as she stepped by him to open the door. She was surprised at the young couple on the other side. A small blonde in a sundress accompanied tall young man with long hair and a beard was not what she had expected.

"Dr. Langford?"

"Miss Summers?"

"Yes, I'm Buffy Summers. This is JT." Buffy smiled. "May we come in?"

Catherine let them in and closed the door. They followed her into the living room. Teal'c followed them.

"Hello again Dr. Jackson. Murray or should I say Teal'c?" She got a little satisfaction from the slightly stunned looks on their faces, well except in the case of Teal'c. JT was right, he did have the ultimate poker face if you discounted the slightly raised eyebrow. "What, I can't do a little follow-up research? I know you did considering the welcome wagon outside. Don't worry, they'll be fine. No permanent damage."

"So Miss Summers, why are you and JT here?" Catherine asked as she sat down. Buffy and the rest of the group also sat down, with JT making it a point to sit next to Buffy.

"I was originally going to ask if you would be willing to join the board of directors of the Travers Foundation. Now, I am hoping that not only will join the board, you might also help calm some rather jumpy people sitting in a nearby mountain.With your background you would be an asset to the governing board as well as in the research department, especially since Dr. Jackson most likely won't be joining us."

"Why wouldn't I be joining you?" Daniel asked.

"The Foundation's research into your background was incomplete. We are not too fond of military organizations. We knew of your involvement with Air Force but your qualifications were so good that the decision was made to contact you despite your military ties. Had we known that you were involved in something as classified as the SGC, no contact would have been made."

"And now that contact has been made?"

"Well, there is always the contingency plan." Catherine and Daniel paled at her words. "They know something about the Council don't they Dr. Langford? Well, the old 'contingency plan' changed when the board did. It is nonlethal and nonpainful and this case probably not practical either. We'd still like you on board Dr. Jackson but I can understand why, beyond the whole 'I hate the Travers Foundation' thing, you would probably prefer to stay at the SGC."

"BuffySummers, do you have any proof as to your identity other than your word? According to our research, you are currently in Rome with your sister."

"My sister is with a decoy. I've got a couple of people in my past that I would prefer not to see. And as to proof, could that wait until everyone is here?"

"Everyone? Are you expecting someone else?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I am expecting one friend, plus aren't you expecting Major Carter to return? And I am curious as to where Colonel O'Neill is."

Daniel's face shuttered. "Jack won't be joining us."

Buffy could feel JT stiffen next to her. He shook his head almost imperceptibly as she glanced at him.

Teal'c picked up on the subtle communication and took a closer look at the silent young man. Until then he had paid more attention to the woman who, if Doctor Langford was correct, was the greater potential threat. There was something familiar about the man but before he could analyze it further he heard the front door open. He watched as Carter and a young man with an eyepatch entered the room. "If that is your friend, I believe that we are now all present BuffySummers."

"Xander, meet Teal'c, Dr. Langford, Dr. Jackson. I see you've already met Major Carter. Major Carter, meet JT. So Dr. Langford, how much do they know about the Council?"

"Just the basics."

Buffy stood up and moved away from the group. "Anybody have a knife handy?"

Teal'c nodded as he drew a knife from an ankle sheath. "Will this do?"

"Yes. Throw it at my head."

"What!" Daniel asked as Catherine nodded in understanding. "Daniel, watch."

Teal'c threw the knife. Buffy caught the knife hilt with only two inches between the blade and her face to spare.

"The Council sent the Slayer," Catherine said.

"No, the Council sent _a_ slayer." Buffy walked back the group and returned the knife. "Many things have changed since you left the Council. Since 1998, there have been two slayers. Last year, all of the potentials were activated."

"That's not possible. A Slayer dies and another is chosen."

"I died in 1998 but was revived by CPR. I was dead long enough for the next to be called. I died again in 2001 and was revived a couple of months later by magic. Unfortunately, that opened the door for the other side, the end result was a near apocalypse last year. The First Evil attempted to destroy the Slayer line by hunting down and killing Potentials and their Watchers. It also was responsible for blowing up the Council headquarters and killing of most of the off-site staff as well. The remaining potentials were activated during the final battle. We won and are now rebuilding the Council."

"There is no such thing as magic."

"Sure there is Spacemonkey."

The remaining members of SG-1 turned to the bearded man in shock.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Spoilers: All of Buffy through Chosen; Stargate through end of season 7; I've reassigned Gen. Hammond back at SGC

Rating: PG-13

-------------------------

"Subtle much?" Buffy asked as she moved to stand beside JT.

"Ya think? Besides, your little knife trick wasn't exactly low key. Next time warn me." His arms wrapped around her.

Buffy grinned. "But then it looses its effectiveness. It's not as if I had a vampire handy for show and tell. Would you have preferred me challenging Teal'c to an arm wrestling match instead?"

"No, Carter has dibs on that." He dropped a kiss on her head.

Xander watched the exchange in disbelief. Dr. Langford had been looking slightly awed, now she looked more appalled than anything. He didn't blame her. He hadn't seen Buffy like this for a long time. It was if she had reverted to her high school persona. And JT? Mental age of sixty-something? Sixteen, maybe. If he was the clone of a colonel, the Air Force was in a lot of trouble.

"Who the HELL are you?" The couple turned to face a really pissed Air Force Major.

"Last year's science project?"

"Mini-Jack?" That was from Daniel.

Teal'c went for the obvious, "O'Neill's clone is but a boy. Was a second clone created?"

"No, just me as far as I know. As of this morning I was a teenage version of Jack O'Neill but things got a little weird."

Daniel tried processing the information. He sounded like Jack. Daniel looked at the man. The eyes did look like Jack's but the long hair and beard? Jack was military through and through. Hell, he used to rib Daniel about his hair and it was never that long. And the touchy-feely stuff? That was just wrong. He knew Loki had created a defective clone, maybe Thor hadn't fixed him as well as he thought.

Carter paled. It couldn't be. It was just too cruel. Not with her Colonel frozen in Antarctica. She fled the room but her teammates were so focused on mini-Jack that they did not miss her.

Xander followed Carter out to the back porch. "Are you okay?"

"What," Carter turned to the newcomer. "No, this just isn't right." Her arms wrapped around her middle as if in pain.

"No kidding. My best friend goes out for a run earlier today and comes back two years older with a new 'friend' who is apparently the clone of some military guy involved it classified stuff."

Carter tried to focus. "Two years older? JT is about fifteen years older than he's supposed to be. What happened?"

"They went on a little trip through a dimensional portal. Time doesn't run at the same speed there. From what Buffy and JT have said, he got sent there this morning and she followed a couple hours later."

"He was sent to another dimension? That's crazy."

"In a world that includes slayers, vampires, and demons what's a dimensional portal or two?"

"That's crazy too."

"Hey, I got a pretty good look at your friend Teal'c. He isn't exactly human is he?"

"That's classified."

"Of course. Just like the stuff in the Council's world is classified. Info is on a need to know basis and most people don't need or want to know." Xander leaned against the porch rail. "Outside of the conspiracy nuts and the just plain nutcases, people ignore or rationalize stuff they can't explain. I grew up in a town where lots of people died or disappeared on a regular basis. Gangs of vampires translated to gangs hopped up on PCP. I was fifteen when I first found out what was really going on. A group of vamps took over the local hotspot and killed a few people before Buffy took them out. Even though there were dozens of people who saw the vampires, none of them were willing to admit what had happened. The next day at school the talk was all about a weird looking gang and how Buffy seemed to know them. It wasn't until graduation day that everything came out in the open and the survivors promptly repressed everything by the next day."

"You and the Council had something to do with the school exploding didn't you?"

"Your team has been busy. You are only half right though. The Council, which remember was the old Council, sat on its collective ass and was probably unaware of what was going on at that point. The Mayor had this longstanding plan to morph into a giant demon snake. My class was to be his first meal. Buffy and I armed the class while Giles and the rest of the group filled the library with explosives. We also had the help of Buffy's ex-boyfriend, an ex-Watcher, and a few other people. We got the Mayor and most of his minions but still lost a lot of people. Okay, my turn for a question. What hell is up with JT? I mean, he seems kinda immature for a colonel doesn't he?"

"And your Buffy isn't?" Carter relented. "Colonel O'Neill is different. He could be an awful tease but he was always there for us. We were a close team, probably the closest."

"Past tense?"

"There was an incident a couple of months ago. We haven't been able to revive him."

"I'm sorry. That's why you came outside isn't it?"

"Yes. To see him but its not him..." Carter paused. "They've been together for a while haven't they?"

No question as to who 'they' were. "Yeah, seems that my favorite slayer was rescued by JT. One of her plans didn't come together, assuming that she actually had a plan. They got pretty close before they managed to escape. I'm not sure how its going to work out but I think that he may end up joining our team."

"What?"

"Well I can't see Buffy joining the military again."

That got a ghost of a smile. "Let me guess, it didn't go well the last time."

"No it didn't. But why don't we go back in and see how things are going?"


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

Rating: PG-13

* * *

Xander and Carter went back into the house. The others had moved into the dining room. Buffy and Teal'c were sitting at the table, arm wrestling. As Carter entered the room, Buffy forced Teal'c's arm down.

"Showing off again? asked Xander.

"Just trying to convince Dr. Jackson," she replied.

"Shouldn't you be wrestling him then?"

"She already did but he still wasn't convinced," JT chipped in.

Dr. Langford looked on in confusion. "She does exhibit a Slayer's strength and speed, but I am not convinced either. She's too undisciplined to be the Slayer."

"She's not a typical Slayer," Xander explained. "The Potentials identified by the Council are trained to the Council's ideal of what a Slayer is. The Council had a pretty good track record of finding potential Slayers so most Slayers were Council trained. Buffy's successor, Kendra was a Council Slayer. She was given to the Council by her family. Her life was spent researching and training, there was no chance for anything else, family, friends, anything resembling a normal life. 'Free range' Slayers like Buffy were rare and very different."

"By 'free range' you mean that Buffy wasn't identified as Potential don't you?" asked Dr. Langford.

"I was Called before the Council found me," Buffy confirmed. "Merrick, my first watcher, contacted me when I was in high school. I thought he was a creepy old guy who like to lure girls into cemeteries. I started to believe when he told me about the dreams I had started having about previous slayers. He also pulled the 'knife trick.' As he pointed out, I did catch it and only the Slayer could have done that. Unfortunately, Lothos, a master vampire, found me before Merrick could fully train me. He killed Merrick and his minions started building a vampire army using my classmates. I dusted Lothos and his minions at a school dance. The damage to the school was enough to get me expelled. My mom and I then moved to Sunnydale, which sat on an active hellmouth. Looking back, I think that the Council was involved somehow because my new Watcher was already in position as the school librarian. He figured out that the usual Council methods weren't going to work."

Xander picked up the story. "I was in library when Giles tried to pull the Watcher routine. Buffy walked out on him. I thought they were both crazy until vampires tried to attack my best friends Willow and Jesse. Buffy saved Willow but the vamps got Jesse. After that, Willow and I started to hang out with Buffy and tried to help. For the first year or so we weren't too successful but we got better. We even did our own patrols when Buffy was unavailable."

"Patrols?"

"Cemetery duty. Most vamps take a while to rise so hanging out in cemeteries is a good way to catch the fledglings. By the time senior year started, our kill rate was about sixty percent."

"You said that Kendra was Buffy's successor?"

"After losing a round to another master vampire, I was bitten and lost consciousness. I was thrown face down in a pool of water where I drowned. Xander and Angel found me and Xander used CPR to revive me. We later found out that I really had died and the next Slayer, Kendra, was called."

"And Angel? Another classmate?"

"A vampire cursed with a soul. He pissed off a tribe of gypsies that had turned vengeance into an art form. Not a very bright group though. They put in clause so that if he ever experienced even a moment of pure happiness, the curse would end and he would lose his soul again."

"And you found this out how?" asked Dr. Jackson.

"When he lost his soul and turned back into Angelus."

"The Scourge of Europe?"

Buffy was silent so Xander continued. "Yeah, the Scourge of Sunnydale too. Went on a campaign to terrorize Buffy to soften her up before the kill. One of his 'finer' moments was killing one our teachers who was dating Buffy's watcher. Miss Calendar had been trying to find a way to restore his soul. Angelus set up a romantic scene complete with roses and candles. Giles found her corpse in his bed. Angel then moved on to trying to send the whole world to hell. His minions killed Kendra, sent Willow and her boyfriend to the hospital, and abducted Giles. Buffy teamed up with another vampire and stopped him."

"I ran him through with a sword and sent him to the hell dimension that he tried to open."

"Okay, say that we are convinced that you are the Slayer and vampires do exist. How do you explain JT? Jack's clone only sixteen. JT is at least in his late twenties."

"Time doesn't necessarily run at the same speed in different dimensions. Angel found his way back out of hell a few months later our time. For him, it was centuries later."

Dr. Langford interrupted. "I thought he was Angelus."

"Just before I sent him to hell, he got his soul back." Buffy looked straight at Xander. "I didn't know that Willow was going to try again to reinstate the curse. It was too late though. Angelus had already opened the portal, the only way to close it was to send him through it. It didn't matter to the portal if it was Angel or Angelus."

Major Carter pulled the discussion back to time. "So are you trying to say that JT ended up in a hell dimension?"

"Not that hell dimension but a similar one. I left Sunnydale after sending Angel to hell. I found out about dimensional travel while in LA. A group of demons had been abducting homeless people and sending through a portal hidden in shelter. They used them as slaves and when they could no longer work, they returned them to the street. Because of the difference in time, not even the other street people realized that anyone was missing until it was too late. Someone I knew from Sunnydale was abducted the day after her boyfriend went missing. She had asked me to help find him. What I found was an old man with the exact same tattoo as her boyfriend. I found her just as she went through the portal. I followed her and was able to get her and a few others out. The demon in charge claimed that for every day in our dimension a hundred years passed in his. I didn't realize that there were probably other portals to that dimension until today. I went for a run after my meeting with Dr. Jackson. When I saw a 'Family Home' shelter I was suspicious and went to investigate. Things didn't work out too well and I ended up as a prisoner. JT rescued me."

JT picked up the story. "When I got up this morning I was pretty depressed and went for walk. My prospects for summer employment were pretty bad so when I saw the shelter I thought they might know of some job opportunities. The next thing I know I'm slave in some sort of factory. Most of the others became drones pretty quickly, some held out a bit longer but they all ended up the same. After a couple of months I was able to escape. I didn't know how I had gotten there, or even were 'there' was, so I had no idea how to leave. I spent the next twelve years or so in the hills. I'd come in periodically for supplies, occasionally doing some a little sabotage. I saw Buffy during one of those raids. Some of the demons were beating the hell out of her while another one lectured the slaves. I could tell that she hadn't lost her sense of self yet. I was eventually able to free her and we headed back into the hills. This time, though, we were actively chased and Buffy was in pretty bad shape. Because we were on the run, Buffy wasn't able to rest and heal as quickly as she normally would. Once she was better, I resumed raiding for supplies and conducting sabotage. Buffy used the distraction that I provided to look for the portal. It was heavily guarded and it took a while to figure out how take out the guards and get out."

"That's an interesting story but some proof would be nice."

"Well Carter, you could have Jack talk to me. I think that I could convince him that I'm him, me, whatever."

"Col. O'Neill has been in a coma for several months."

"Shit. What happened?"

"That's classified."

"He's me."

"So you say."

"Fine. Let's have Janet bring her needles and do the DNA thing."

"DoctorFraiser was died several months ago."

"I know Jack and I said that we wouldn't be in touch but no one else could be bothered to tell me that Janet died? What happened?"

"I'm sorry JT," Daniel said. "She was KIA."

"I'll see if General Hammond will agree to bring you in for DNA testing."

"Major Carter, where JT goes, I go."


	11. Chapter 11

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. I wish I did. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"General Hammond, I have just received some additional information about Buffy Summers that you need to see." Major Davis looked vaguely unwell. "I've have been given some security footage from the Army/NID project that she was involved with."

"The Initiative?"

"Yes Sir."

"Well..."

"Sir, I think that you should view the footage."

Fifteen minutes later, General Hammond was also looking unwell.

"What in Sam Hill was the Initiative doing?"

"Trying to harness what they termed the 'hostile subterrestrial threat' or HST and create a supersoldier. When the project went to hell, all evidence was ordered destroyed. These video clips are not supposed to exist."

"And Miss Summers' involvement? Do you know what that was?"

"She was recruited by an Agent Finn."

"Agent?"

"Yes Sir. Finn is apparently Army but classified to the point of obscurity. The rank of most of the Army personnel involve with the project was likewise deleted. It should be noted that his real name is also a mystery. As to why she was recruited, you need to see the next clip."

Davis queued the video. This segment was of an unarmed young woman taking down four soldiers in under two minutes.

"Apparently, she is the natural balance to the HSTs. According to the surviving records, she is called the 'Slayer' or the 'Chosen One.' While Dr. Walsh, who was in charge of the Initiative at that point, didn't buy into the mythological explanation, she was intrigued by Summer's strength and speed. Summers was later ruled a security risk and Walsh attempted to eliminate her. Summers survived and short time later Walsh was killed. Summers infiltrated the Initiative and freed one of the HSTs. She also freed Finn who had been arrested for attempting to free that same HST. She returned to the Initiative a second time. That was the when everything went to hell."

Davis started the final video segment.

"Her eyes glowed."

"Yes Sir."

"And she showed Dr. Jackson pictures of the coverstone and a tablet written in Goa'uld."

Hammond's telephone rang.

--------

"General Hammond has given the okay for JT and Miss Summers to come to the SGC. Mr. Harris and Catherine are also invited"

"Can we lose the Miss Summers and Mr. Harris? It's Buffy and Xander." Buffy looked at Xander. "So, want to go to a top secret military base?"

"Sure, can't miss an opportunity like that. I'll go get my car." Xander headed out the door. Once he was out of sight he placed a call to Giles on his cell phone.

-------

Xander brought his car the rest of the way to Dr. Langford's house just as Daniel, JT, Buffy and the big guy were getting into a car. He parked his car and exited. Walking to the other side of the car, he opened both doors. "Ladies, your chariot awaits."

"So, Xander, what is your position in the Council?"

"I guess the best description is Watcher. My research skills aren't great, actually by the Council standards they're awful, but I've got eight years of field experience. Right now I'm scouting properties for the headquarters for western U.S. branch of the Council."

"The western branch?"

"No more putting all of our eggs in one basket. One bomb took out the core of the old Council. With modern communications, there is no reason for everything to be in one place. Besides, we don't want to separate Slayers from their families anymore than absolutely necessary. We are trying to create something between a boarding school and summer camp."

"That's the real reason you want to recruit me."

"Yeah, we figured that you would be able to really understand what we are trying to do."

"Catherine?"

"When I said that Dr. Langford was my adoptive father, I didn't tell you the rest. He was a Watcher and I was a Potential. I was taken from my birth family when I was about four."

"Taken?"

"Probably kidnapped. I really don't know. I was told that there had been an accident. For a long time I didn't question what I was told. It was easier to believe the lie. My new father was kind in his way and I got to travel to faraway places. My training didn't begin in earnest until I was about ten, up to that point a lot of it seemed like a game. When it became evident that I was not going to be the Slayer, my father and I drifted away from the Council. We came to the States and eventually found ourselves working for the government."

"That would have something to do with the SGC and JT right?"

"Indirectly."

"So, what can you tell me about JT or the Colonel? I'd like to know what Buffy's in for this time."

"Well, if JT is the Colonel's clone, he hates paperwork and loves the Simpsons and his Gameboy." Carter thought a moment longer and added, "and what do you mean this time?"

"Buffy's track record with her boyfriends hasn't been exactly stellar. Angel and Riley both bailed and when she broke up with Spike he tried to rape her."

"Angel, didn't you say he was a vampire?"

"So was Spike. As I said, not exactly stellar. Riley was just a juiced up soldier though. So, does JT have a little monster in him?"

--------

Daniel and his passengers were silent for a good twenty minutes before JT had finally had enough.

"Okay, Daniel. I know you too well. Come on, you know that you are just dying to ask questions."

"You really expect us to believe in magic?"

"After all of the weird shit that you've seen in the last few years how much harder is it to believe in the supernatural?"

"That stuff could be explained as biology or technology."

"And your Ascension?"

Buffy started.

"Different type of ascension Buffy. No giant snakes."

"Okay, that's a bit harder to explain."

-----------

Daniel's car pulled up to the gate, followed by Xander's. After being cleared by security, they drove into the officer's lot. They parked the cars and everybody walked over to the main entrance. Passing through security Xander's cell phone was confiscated as were a small assortment weapons that Xander, Buffy and JT were carrying. The group was escorted by a couple of SFs and got into an elevator.

As the elevator began to descend Xander asked "what is it with the military and underground bases?"

JT replied. "It is easier to secure an underground base."

"So Buffy, guess you forgot to tell JT about your history of breaking into top secret military bases."

"Hey, you did it before I did."

"But that was a topside army base."

"Army, well that explains it."

"Hey, she broke into the Initiative twice, although we did get caught the second time."

The elevator came to a stop. The door opened and they step out.

JT heard the distinctive sound of Zat guns just before he lost consciousness.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

JT, Xander, and Buffy weren't the only ones surprised by the SGC reception committee. Daniel managed to find himself in the line of fire and went down as well. Unlike the others, he hit the elevator doorway on the way down.

A medical team moved in and secured the three newcomers to gurneys. They were injected with sedatives and then wheeled down to the infirmary. Dr. Warner did a quick exam of Dr. Jackson and called for another gurney.

"It looks like he has another concussion."

Daniel was loaded onto the gurney and Dr. Warner accompanied him down the hall.

"Sir, what is going on?"

"After you left the base, Major Davis was able to get additional information about Miss Summers. At the very least she poses a major security risk. She may also be a Goa'uld."

"Sir, I don't know what else she might be but she is not a Goa'uld. Neither Teal'c nor myself sensed anything."

"Indeed she is not." Teal'c confirmed.

"Are you certain?"

"We would have sensed if she were. She is, however, quite strong." Teal'c replied. "Her reflexes are also exceptional."

"General, why would you think that she is Goa'uld?"

"Major Carter, Teal'c, meet me in my briefing room in five minutes. I'll have Major Davis show you the video."

Dr. Langford spoke up. "General, may I see it as well? I may have some information that would be helpful."

"I'm sorry but the contents are classified."

"Of course. I'll be in the commissary if you need me." Dr. Langford stepped around the General and walked down the corridor. "Damn military."

-----

Xander woke up to find himself in restraints. To his right he could see JT who was still out of it. Beyond JT, he could see another bed but could not identify its occupant. The good news was that he appeared to be in hospital ward rather than a laboratory. Maybe the SGC wasn't quite as bad as the Initiative. Then again, the restraints and the pair of guards that he could see just outside the doorway weren't a good sign. He heard a groan from the right and turned to see that JT had regained consciousness.

"What hit us?"

"A Zat."

"Huh?"

"A Zat, its a type of gun. One shot knocks you out, two kills, three disintegrates. It doesn't knock you out for long though. Considering they've had time to move us into the infirmary, I'd say we've been drugged too."

"Nice friends that you have." Xander commented. "Is that Buffy in the next bed?"

"No. Just Daniel."

"They shot him too?"

"He doesn't rate a set of these lovely restraints so I'm guessing that it wasn't on purpose. Daniel is just accident prone." JT reconsidered. "Hell, accident prone is an understatement. He's died more times than Buffy."

"Ouch. So, want to guess why they shot us?"

"Well, it's fair to say that one, they don't believe that I am Jack's clone and two, they know something about Buffy."

"So, where is Buffy?"

"Probably being checked out for alien parasites."

"And that makes sense how?"

"Lets just say that while the Initiative dealt with hostile subterrestrials, the SGC deals with things that are a little more out there."

"As in 'the truth is out there'?"

"Yep."

"As if the world didn't have enough trouble. What are the odds that they'll let us walk out of here within the next 24 hours?"

"Not very good unless they decide that I really am Jack's clone and that will probably take awhile."

A feral grin crossed Xander's face. "You might want to try REAL hard to get them to release us. I called Giles when I went to get my car. He'll call Willow."

"Shit."

----

Major Davis gave Carter and Teal'c a brief summary of the activities of the Initiative and Buffy's involvement while the video played.

"General, the Slayer may not be a myth. Dr. Langford is absolutely positive that the Slayer exists. In fact, she claims that she was once a potential Slayer but that she wasn't Called."

"Are you saying that you believe that Miss Summer's is the Slayer?"

"After seeing that footage, I wouldn't deny the possibility. Dr. Langford would be better able..."

Dr. Warner knocked on the door and entered the briefing room, interrupting Major Carter.

"Doctor, what can you tell us about Dr. Jackson and our guests?"

"Dr. Jackson is still unconscious but the injury is fairly minor. We are doing a DNA analysis of Mr. Thorsson. Until those results are in all I can tell you is that he is a human male, approximately thirty years old, underweight by about twenty pounds but otherwise healthy. He is not a Goa'uld. Mr. Harris is also not a Goa'uld."

"And Miss Summers?"

"General, she's not a Goa'uld either. I know you requested that she remain sedated but I'm afraid that I can not authorize that. She's pregnant and it may harm the child. I've stopped administering the sedative and she should regain consciousness in about an hour. Teal'c, how dangerous is it for a pregnant woman to be hit by a zat blast?"

"It is not uncommon for a woman to lose the child. If the pregnancy is in the later stages, the woman may also die."

"Well, Miss Summers is in still in the first trimester so she should be safe. I will monitor the fetus for any sign of distress."

Carter looked at the general. "Sir, from the interaction that we witnessed between JT and Miss Summers, I think that he may be the father."

Hammond recalled O'Neill's personnel file and how unstable he had become after the death of his son. "God help us." And it was a prayer.

----

Lt. Zale was bored. He hated monitoring the security cameras. Not much ever happened unless there was an actual invasion and the other guy on duty was a complete dweeb. For the most part it was the dullest duty on the base. Well maybe not today, he thought as he caught sight of a cute blonde lab technician on camera five. What he wouldn't give to be one of the guards she was talking to. He'd have to find out who she was, maybe they could go out for a drink sometime.

----

From his vantage point, Xander watched as a small blonde lab technician approached the guards. A minute later, the guards were on the floor and Buffy was at JT's side, removing his restraints.

"How?"

"Sedatives wear off real quick when you are the Slayer." She grinned. "They didn't know what hit them, well, except for the donor of my new outfit. She told me where they were holding you. And by the way, really not loving your old buddies."

As JT sat up and swung his legs out of the bed, Buffy turned and removed Xander's restraints.

"Not to fond of them either at this point but I think that the team was just as surprised as we were. Daniel certainly was."

"So, JT, you know the security on the base. What's the best way out?"

"The security cameras should have alerted the base by now so we try talking to General Hammond," JT replied. He then muttered, "and hope to hell that he is responsible for this."

JT walked over to Daniel's bed. "Wakey, wakey."

-----

Zale nearly fell out of his chair when he saw the blonde takeout both guards. "Burns," he yelped. "Alert Security, we have an intruder in the infirmary."


	13. Chapter 13

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey."

Daniel woke up with a killer headache and a familiar voice nearby. Damn, he had been zatted again, he thought as he raised his hand to his head. There was a nasty lump on the back of his head too. He was really beginning to wonder if the universe had it in for him. He didn't want to open his eyes. If he opened them he couldn't pretend that he could hear Jack.

"Come on Daniel, we don't have time for this. They'll be here any minute."

Daniel opened his eyes to see JT standing over him. "They?"

"Security, Carter, Teal'c."

"Oh." He closed his eyes again. "Why?"

"The prisoners have broken free."

"What prisoners?"

"Buffy, Xander and myself. Seems that paranoia is on the rise these days. Somebody staged a lovely welcome home party. Since you got zatted too I'm guessing that you didn't know about it."

"No, I didn't." Daniel sat up and immediately wished he hadn't. He turned to see Buffy standing by a makeshift barricade at the door. He continued to look around the room, taking in the two SF's strapped into the gurneys on his left. He saw Xander standing on chair placing a cover over the room's security camera.

"That should take care of any surveillance unless there are some hidden cameras."

"Not that I recall but its been a while," JT answered. "Well, I guess it's time to place a call to the General."

---------

General Hammond was not a happy camper when he got the call from Lt. Zale. He told Carter and Teal'c to join the security teams converging on the infirmary.

"Dr. Warner, do you have any idea what you have done? Miss Summers is on the loose and has already assaulted a number of the SGC personnel including serveral SFs."

"I'm sorry General but it was simply too risky to keep her sedated."

"You were briefed about her capabilities. The very least you could have done was called for extra security."

"With the amount of sedatives in her system she should still be unconscious."

"Well she's not and you've got a new group of patients, eight as of the last count. Now go take care of them."

Hammond sighed as Warner scurried out. He knew that the doctor wasn't at fault but at times like this he missed the competence of Dr. Frasier. Well, at least Warner was on his last tour. Maybe his replacement would be better. Hammond was heading back to his office when the telephone rang again.

"Hammond here."

-----------

By the time that Carter and Teal'c reached the infirmary two security teams were already in place.

"Major Carter, they've barricaded one of the wards and they have three hostages including Dr. Jackson."

"Have they tried to negotiate?"

"No ma'am. They've ignored our attempts at communication."

"Let me try."

"JT? Miss Summers?"

"JT's busy talking to the general. Is that Carter?"

"Yes. Are the hostages alright?"

"I wouldn't call them hostages but they are fine. The SF's are still sleeping but you can talk to Dr. Jackson."

"Daniel?"

"I'm fine. Bit of headache though."

"The guards?"

"They're unconscious but breathing."

"Miss Summers, if they are not hostages why don't you send them out and we'll talk."

"Don't think so Major. We need to see some good faith on your side. That ambush, which by the way I hope that you didn't know about it, was way out of line."

"The General thought that you might be a danger to the SGC. He was given a video tape where your eyes glowed."

Behind the barricade JT caught that last bit and turned to Buffy. She looked puzzled too.

"I don't remember my eyes ever glowing," she told him quietly. Using a louder voice she asked, "what else was in the video?"

"You were fighting what looked like Frankenstein's monster."

"You'll need to be a little more specific."

Xander snorted in amusement.

"The Initiative."

"**_That_** monster was called Adam and the glowing eyes were probably the byproduct of a spell we used to defeat him. I couldn't take out Adam without help. Willow, Xander and Giles cast a spell to merge themselves with me and the essence of the first slayer. I am so not a Goa'uld."

"Goa'uld?"

"Later Xander."

"Teal'c and I are aware of that but the General wasn't sure until Dr. Warner confirmed it. Now why don't you open the door and let us in."

"You mean let our 'guests' go. Sorry, not just yet. Trust issues."

------------

"General, I know you have no reason to believe that I am Jack's clone yet but did you have to shoot us?"

JT listened with an ill-concealed impatience.

"Sir, we left our weapons at security and were searched. Twice."

He stopped even trying to conceal his impatience.

"Sir, you don't realize how bad this could become. It would best for all concerned if you just let us leave the base right now." He paused briefly before continuing. "Let's just say we are on a fairly tight schedule. We'll send out the SF's but Daniel stays for now. I need to get Buffy and Xander out of the mountain before the cavalry shows up. Once we are clear, we'll let Daniel go."

Xander looked at Daniel. "Guess it's official. You're the designated hostage."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Sir, Xander put a call in to an old friend of his before we arrived. That friend will call in the big guns if we are not out of here soon... Well, then maybe Davis better ask his contact about Willow, if you were worried about Buffy you're just gonna love dealing with her."

"JT..."

He turned towards Buffy. Her face was dead white. She was looking at the floor, his eyes followed hers to a pool of blood on the floor.

"Something's wrong."


	14. Chapter 14

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

"Something's wrong."

JT dropped the telephone receiver as he and Xander both lunged towards the swaying Buffy. The two men steadied her for a moment. JT then swung her gently into his arms and moved towards Daniel who was already standing on the floor.

"Carter, we have a medical emergency in here." JT called out as he placed Buffy on the recently vacated gurney. "Xander, Daniel move that barricade now!"

----------

General Hammond heard the clatter of the telephone receiver hitting a wall. He listened in dismay as he realized that the woman might be miscarrying. If JT was Jack's clone, the situation had just gotten exponentially worse. He hung up as there was nothing he could with JT off the line. He placed a call to an aide, "This General Hammond, have Dr. MacKenzie report to my office ASAP. I'll also need security to route a feed from the infirmary and the isolation ward to the briefing room."

A minute later a call came in from Lt. Zale. "General Hammond, the cameras in the isolation ward have been covered. The best that I can do is give you cameras in corridors."

"That will have to do." Hammond hung up the telephone as Major Davis reentered the briefing room. "Davis, get in touch with your source. I need information on Miss Summers now, and not just the edited stuff that you've gotten so far. And find out who the hell Willow is and why we should be even more worried about_** her.**_"

Davis was staring at the monitor behind the general. He watched Dr. Warner and a nurse enter the ward. "Sir, can you tell me what is happening?"

"Miss Summers may be suffering a miscarriage from the zat blast and/or the sedatives she was given."

-----

"What's happening? Is she losing the baby?"

"I won't know until I can do a thorough exam but she might be miscarrying. According to Teal'c, it is not uncommon for this to happen when a zat is used on a pregnant woman. Now, please, move back so we can see what the situation."

Xander stepped towards JT and gently pulled him back from the gurney. "JT, Buffy's strong, you know that. The doc said its not uncommon not inevitable so it doesn't mean that she will lose the baby. Hell, she's recovered from injuries in less than a day that would have anyone else hospitalized for a week or more. Let the doctor work."

"If anything happens to Buffy or our child, I'll help Willow take this place apart."

"And I'll help."

Carter and Teal'c watched from outside of the ward, joined by Daniel.

"We've really screwed up this time."

"Daniel?"

"JT is Jack's clone."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Do you think Jack would react any differently if that were his wife possibly miscarrying? Or if one of us had been injured in similar ambush? Hell, he trusted us and we betrayed him."

"We didn't betray him, we had no idea the general would order an ambush."

"MajorCarter is correct. We had no knowledge of what GeneralHammond planned."

"We should have Teal'c. We knew that Buffy had an interesting past and then we found out about the slayers. Why should we have assumed that Davis wouldn't turn up additional information about her?"

"He won't forgive us for this will he Daniel?" Carter asked softly.

"Not if the baby dies. And if it does, I don't think Jack will either."

"If you are all through feeling sorry for yourselves, would get out of the way?" An irate Dr. Warner and his nurse moved the gurney towards the door. "NOW."

SG-1 moved out of the way for the doctor. JT and Xander followed. The one S.F. foolish enough to try to stop them was ordered by Carter to stand down.

--------

"Willow, thank God. I've been trying to get in contact with you for hours."

"Sorry, Giles. I didn't realize that battery on the cell died." Willow curled up on her bed. "Vi said that something major had come up but you wouldn't tell her what."

"Buffy and Xander were heading to a military in base in Colorado and I haven't been able to contact them for over seven hours."

"I thought they were supposed to be contacting Dr. Langford and Dr. Jackson?"

"They did. Dr. Jackson's ties to the military were a bit stronger than we thought. And it gets worse. Buffy has a new boyfriend."

"Vampire? Demon?"

"No, he's human but he is the reason that she and Xander may be in trouble. He claims to be the clone of an Air Force colonel stationed at the base where Jackson works. They were heading there for a DNA test to prove it."

"Do you know which base?"

"No but the closest one to their location is NORAD. How quickly can you get there?"

"Conventional or otherwise?"

"Conventional. I think that you should take some backup. This will be a little more difficult to breech than the Initiative was."

"You mean without just turning the place into a crater don't you? I'll take the first flight out with Faith."

"Not Kennedy?"

"We need sometime apart. Besides, making her play den mother to the mini-Slayers might knock some sense into her."

--------

Sam woke to the sound of telephone ringing. Rolling over she answered it. "Hello."

"Agent Samantha Finn?"

"Yes."

"This is Agent Barrett, NID. I need to speak with your husband."

She looked at the clock on the table next to the bed. "It's 4 a.m."

"It's urgent."

"We're on stand down."

"Not anymore."

"Sam, who is it?"

"An Agent Barrett, NID, and its for you." Sam passed the telephone to Riley and pulled a pillow over her head.

"Riley Finn here"

"Someone has been leaking information about the Initiative and Buffy Summers. I take it you know her."

"Yes."

"Well, Miss Summers, an Alexander Harris, and a Jonathan Thorrson are currently being held at a military base in Colorado."

"Did they break in?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"If you don't know, you don't have clearance. Why are they being held?"

"Yesterday Miss Summers made contact with a civilian employee at the base. When he realized that she had access to potentially classified material, he notified the base and they started a background check on her. Some of the supposedly non-existant files of the Initiative were transferred to the base and Miss Summers was judged to be a possible threat. When she and her companions were brought to the base they were taken into custody."

"And?"

"And what?"

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if there wasn't something else. So, let me guess. Something went spectacularly wrong didn't it?"

"Err, yes. Miss Summers was injured while being taken into custody. I'm not sure exactly what happened but Mr. Thorrson has told the officer in charge of the base that if they were not released immediately, that he should ask his contact about Willow."

"And you know about this because?"

"The Pentagon liason at the base contacted me. His source had disappeared when he attempted to get more information about Miss Summers and Willow."

"I still don't know why you are calling me."

"Most of the records concerning the Initiative really were destroyed and most of those involved with the project are dead. I'm hoping that you can fill in the blanks."

"Sorry, I can't do that. But I will give you a piece of advice to pass on, tell them to release Miss Summers and her companions. They also better pray that Buffy's injuries aren't serious."

"Her injuries aren't life-threatening but she is pregnant and may lose the child. We need to know what kind of threat Willow may pose. We don't know anything about Willow other than there was a Willow Rosenberg who was a student in Sunnydale, California."

"The only person who has been able to talk Willow down is on that base. If you can't get them all out at once, get Xander out first unless you want to build a new base."

"Agent Finn, I realize that I can't order you to go Colorado but I can set things into motion so that you do get those orders. There's a plane at Dulles fueled and waiting."

"And you have a car waiting." Riley sighed. "We'll be in the lobby in ten minutes."

He hung up the telephone and pulled the pillow off his wife's face.

"Up and at 'em Sam. We're heading to Colorado."

"So much for our vacation huh?"


	15. Chapter 15

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

"General Hammond?" 

The General looked up from his desk.

"Come in Dr. MacKenzie. Take a seat. There may be a situation developing that needs your attention." Hammond leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. "How much do recall about Col. O'Neill's psychological profile?"

"He had an intense loyalty to his team and he held himself personally responsible every time something happened to one of them. From his records, I would venture to say that after his son died and his marriage broke down, he basically substituted his team for his family."

"And if something threatened that his family?"

"I wouldn't want to get in his way." MacKenzie sized up the General. "This isn't an academic exercise is it?"

"No. Due to an unfortunate series of events, I may have endangered the life of his pregnant girlfriend. She was injured by a zat."

"Major Carter?"

"What?"

"I am aware of the base gossip sir. The Colonel's name wasn't linked to anyone else's before that last mission. I take it that he has revived?"

"No, the Colonel is still in stasis. It's his clone that I am worried about."

"I thought the clone had died."

"No, Thor was able to fix him. We let out that he died for his protection. Only the President, myself, Dr. Frasier, and SG-1 were aware that he survived."

"So, he starts a new life after losing his old one only to have his pregnant girlfriend shot and his new life possibly destroyed. Before I had some leverage when dealing with Col. O'Neill, he could be ordered to at least **_attend_** counseling. You can't order a civilian. You and everybody involved might want to consider leaving the planet."

"This is not a laughing matter."

"I realize that General. However, I don't see how I can help. You know as well as I do that O'Neill despised me and my profession, especially after I misdiagnosed Dr. Jackson. Seeing me will only make matters worse. The best suggestion I can give you is to keep your distance from him. If SG-1 wasn't directly involved with the incident, keep them around him. They'll provide a sense of security that he won't find with you or the base personnel in general."

----------

It had only taken eight minutes for Agents Riley and Sam Finn to reach the lobby. A nondescript man at the desk turned to greet them.

"I'm Agent Barrett. Your bill has been taken care and the car is waiting."

Riley and Sam followed him to a waiting limo.

"Nice perk."

"I need to brief you before we get to Dulles. I'll be staying in DC trying to track down the whereabouts of the leak."

"Any idea who it is?"

"It looks as if he or she may have been connected to Vice-President Kinsey."

Riley turned to his wife. "He was the senior civilian member of the Initiative advisory board. He was in agreement with Dr. Walsh about terminating Buffy."

"So was a chance to take care of unfinished business?"

"Lots of unfinished business. Kinsey has had it in for those running another top secret project for years. He attempted to remove the general in charge of the project at least three times that I am aware of and briefly succeeded twice. The resulting flack of the most recent attempt, which has been entirely behind the scenes, has pretty much killed his political future. I'm guessing that when he found out that they were interested in Miss Summers the temptation to get rid of her and/or them was too great to resist."

"So, where will we be headed?"

"You will be flying to Peterson Air Force Base. You will be met by Major Paul Davis who will escort you to Cheyenne Mountain."

"NORAD? You have Buffy locked up there? Are you nuts?"

"She's actually at another nearby base." Barrett leaned back against his seat. "Besides, its very secure base."

"Which probably explains why Xander contacted Willow for backup."

"Willow Rosenberg."

"Yes, and trust me, you do not want to cross her. Normally, she's a really sweet kid-a computer whiz with a thing for magic. A couple of years ago she got into some really dark stuff and when her girlfriend was killed she went off the deep end. She hunted down the guy that pulled the trigger. One of my former team members had been keeping an eye on events in Sunnydale. According to his sources, she literally skinned him alive and then went on a rampage."

"And **_then_** went on a rampage?" Barrett lost his color. "And she's not locked up?"

"Xander talked her down before she killed anyone else and one of her friends got her into rehab. The local authorities never found out since she incinerated the body so she was in the clear."

"But obviously you knew. So why is she still free?"

"I don't think there is a prison that could hold her, at least not a conventional one. Besides, she's more useful free than in prison. It's not like our government hasn't allowed similar things before."

"Agent Barrett, do you have any idea where Willow is?"

"She flew into Miami two weeks ago. She then headed to Daytona for a couple of days. We haven't been able to trace her movements after that."

----------

Faith was packing an overnight bag when Willow came in to her bedroom.

"So, B's in trouble?"

"Probably. Xander hasn't checked in with Giles since yesterday."

"So where are we headed?"

"Some military base in Colorado."

"Mmm, boys in uniform."

"Boys with guns. And probably holding Xander, Buffy, and her new boyfriend."

"B's got a new boyfriend? Since when?"

"Yesterday she did a two year tour of a hell dimension. She brought the guy back with her."

"So, bloodsucker? Demon?"

"Human."

Willow passed Faith a small packet.

"What's this? New ID?"

"Just in case the military types are on the lookout. We are going as sisters, Amy and Anna Sweet."

"Ah, Will, this photo might be a problem."

Willow grinned. "Already taken care of. Check the mirror."

"Cool. How long will it last?"

"A day or so unless I reverse the spell. I figure that the big problem will be the security at the airport. Too many civilians around if we get caught. Once we are in Colorado, I'll change us back."

A voice called up from downstairs. "Your taxi is here."

Faith grabbed her bag and followed Willow downstairs and out of the house.

---------

JT, Xander, and SG-1 had set up camp outside of the infirmary after Dr. Warner had banned them banned from the infirmary itself. He did promise to let them know as soon as Buffy stabilized. Carter had sent an SF for some chairs and coffee for the vigil.

Xander went into a light sleep fairly quickly, not finding the hard chair much of problem. JT held onto his cup of coffee, letting in grow cold as he stared at the infirmary door. Daniel attempted to talk to him on several occasions only back off as JT gave him a cold look. Carter didn't fare any better before she and Teal'c were called away to the General's office. Xander woke up as Dr. Warner opened the infirmary door.

"Miss Summers is stable and the fetus is doing well. She's asking for JT."

JT and Xander both rose but the doctor would only let JT in. "Only one visitor for now. Dr. Jackson, you and Mr. Harris might want to get some food or some sleep."


	16. Chapter 16

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

Xander watched JT follow Dr. Warner into the infirmary. "So, Dr. Jackson, care to show me the cafeteria?"

Xander and Daniel walked down the hallway discretely followed by an SF. Xander took note that two SFs remained at the doors to the infirmary.

Breakfast was being served when they arrived in the mess hall. Xander loaded his tray with scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and toast. Daniel just picked up another cup of coffee.

"Caffeine junkie?"

"Umm, yeah. Got hooked in grad school." Daniel looked at Xander's plate with a combination of awe and horror. Even Teal'c would have had a problem with that quantity of food. "And you?"

Xander glanced at his plate. "I tend to overeat when I'm stressed. Anya claimed that I packed on thirty pounds after we announced our engagement."

"Should we be expecting her to show up too?"

"No, she didn't make it out of Sunnydale."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I've had nearly two years to come to terms with it. She went down fighting the good fight."

They walked over to Dr. Langford's table and sat down.

"Daniel, Xander," a rather sleepy Dr. Langford greeted the pair. "Where's everybody else?"

"Sam and Teal'c are with General Hammond, JT and Miss Summers are in the infirmary."

"Are they alright?"

"Zats and pregnancy don't mix well but Buffy's stable."

"A pregnant Slayer?"

"Yeah, it was a bit of shock when she told me. Buffy never thought she'd be able to have kids."

"Slayers can't have children?"

"They can Daniel, they just don't as a rule. The Council tried to prevent the Slayers from having anything resembling a normal life, family, friends, boyfriends. They all distract from the mission. Besides, most Slayers just don't live very long and a pregnant Slayer isn't going to be able to defend herself very well."

"And it's hard on any kids that they do have. Buffy's last boss in Sunnydale was the son of a Slayer. Most of his memories of his mother revolve around her being the Slayer. He was only five or six when Spike killed his mother. Lots of unresolved issues there."

"Spike, wasn't that the name of..."

Xander nodded but before he could say anything Carter and Teal'c rejoined the group.

"Catherine, General Hammond would like to speak with you."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say he is a little more receptive than before."

"Well in that case, if the rest of you will excuse me." Dr. Langford got up and headed out of the mess hall.

"I take it someone has dug a little deeper."

"Indeed. AgentBarrett contacted AgentFinn for information about Willow."

"Riley or Sam?" At the confused looks, Xander elaborated. "Riley and Samantha Finn are old 'friends' from Sunnydale. And before you ask, Riley was involved with the Initiative and is another of Buffy's ex-boyfriends. So, what do you think you know about Willow?"

"Computer geek that once skinned a man alive?"

"Damn, I was kinda hoping that no one knew about that incident."

"There were others?"

"She went through a bad patch a couple of years ago when she got hooked on magic. She was pretty much self trained and didn't realize how dangerous magic could be when used for selfish purposes."

"Selfish purposes?"

"It started with raising Buffy from the dead. We didn't realize that we were more concerned with our pain at missing Buffy than with what was best for Buffy. It was a complete fuck up. Not only did we pull her out of heaven and back into Sunnyhell, we forgot to dig her up first. She had to claw her way out of her grave. Buffy was pretty messed up for a while but we were too busy patting ourselves on the back to see it. We didn't realize that Willow had really gotten a taste for power either. Tara and I didn't know just how dark the magic she used was although Anya must have. Part of the pre-ritual ritual included animal sacrifice. After that, Willow began using magic for little things, to open the blinds instead of just walking over and opening them by hand. Her girlfriend tried to warn her but Willow didn't listen and Tara left her. Willow hooked up with another witch and got pulled deeper into the magic scene but mostly doing pranks, no real harm. An accident finally made her realize that she was in over her head and she went cold turkey. She and Tara started to work through their problems and were getting back together when Tara was shot by a stray bullet. The shooter nearly killed Buffy as well. After that, Willow went off the deep end for a bit. And yes, she did kill the shooter, and no, you don't want the details. But don't feel too sorry for the shooter, he was seriously warped. Tara wasn't the first girl he killed either. But killing him didn't make Willow feel any better and she nearly killed the rest of us before she finally calmed down. Afterwards, Giles placed her with a coven that was powerful enough to control her until she learned to control herself."

"If she's off the magic why should we be worried about her?"

"I didn't say she was off the magic, I said she learned to control herself. Big difference. Last year she was the one who activated all of the Potential Slayers. She didn't do it with her computer skills."

"So she's very powerful, just not homicidal?"

"I wouldn't recommend pushing her too hard but that's a fair assessment. She is capable of leveling this place but she won't do it if there is an alternative. You just need to make sure there is an acceptable alternative."

"In other words, we are just supposed to let you go."

"That would do it, but I'm guessing that Buffy isn't going anywhere for a bit."

"That is correct. DoctorWarner believes that she must remain in bed until the danger of miscarriage is past."

"Well, you could let me have my cell phone back and I could place a call or two."

A rather red-faced Carter spoke up. "Um, you might want to use another phone."

"Why?"

"Security attempted to trace the calls you made on your cell phone."

"And when it didn't work?"

"Felger took it apart. When he couldn't figure out why the calls were untraceable, he tried to put it back together but it doesn't work anymore."

Xander groaned.

"Care to explain why the calls couldn't be traced?"

"'It's a kind of magic?' No seriously, it really is. All calls, non-traceable. Very secure, maybe too secure in this case. And you've probably been checking the hotel phone as well."

"And those calls couldn't be traced either."

"What can I say? You guys aren't the only ones with a case of raging paranoia. Ever since Prof. Walsh tried to kill Buffy, we've been a bit edgy."

"You could use one of our phones," Carter suggested hopefully.

"I think I'll pass. How about sending me topside before she gets here?"

"General Hammond may have other ideas."

------------

"Hey Buff. You trying to give me grey hair?" JT dragged a chair next to her bed.

"I've been told that it makes you looked distinguished."

"I'm not ready to look like Jack just yet. So, how do you feel?"

"I've been worse."

"You've been dead, too."

"Not too bad really. The bleeding has stopped and the doctor says the baby's heartbeat is steady." Buffy looked into JT's eyes. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired."

"Then try to sleep."

"Join me?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't think that will go over to well with the guys with needles. I'll stay here while you sleep."

------------

Dr. Warner went into his office and placed a call to the general. "General Hammond?"

"How is she?"

"She is almost out of danger. Normally I'd suggest at least two weeks of bedrest but she is recovering much faster than I would have thought. I think that she will be ready to get up and around within the next couple of days."

"And JT?"

"He's with her right now."

"How is he taking it?"

"Well they both made a couple of jokes before she went to sleep. He's watching over her."

"Good. Let me know if there are any changes."

-----------

"Agents Riley and Samantha Finn?"

"Yes, sir."

"Major Davis. I am the Pentagon liason for the base that we are heading to."

They walked towards a waiting car. The three of them get in and settle in for the drive to the base.

"You're the one with the missing contact."

"Yes, but my contact is no longer missing however. He was found dead in a park. Apparent suicide."

"His connection to Kinsey?"

"An intern."

"How's Buffy?"

"She's recovering. Our doctor believes that she is unlikely to miscarry at this point."

"Has Willow been spotted?"

"We traced her to the Calendar School for Girls in Cleveland but lost her again."

"She'll be here if she isn't already."

"We are watching the airports in the area."

"You won't find her unless she wants you to."

"Agent Barrett briefed me on your conversation with him earlier. Anything that you care to add?"

"Other than the obligatory 'your in over your head' comment? No." Riley shifted in his seat. "What's the base's commanding officer like?"

"He's a good man. His people trust him."

"How good is he in handling the unusual?"

"Very good. Although from the video clips, I'd say your idea of unusual is a bit different than his."

"Very likely. Can you tell me how Buffy got tangled up in another top secret military project?"

"She contacted a key member of the project with material that was related to the project. It was thought that perhaps we had a leak but the material was from an independent group. The background check on Miss Summers raised some red flags. We put a surveillance team on the project member as well as a former member that we thought she might contact. Mr. Harris and Mr. Thorsson incapacitated the second team. Afterward, we arranged to have them brought on to the base."

"And that's when everything went wrong. So, why bring potential security risks on base?"

"Mr. Thorsonn claimed a connection to the base's second in command. We didn't believe him but we thought that containment was better than having him on the outside."

"So why bring Buffy and Xander?"

"Miss Summers was fairly insistent that she would accompany him. Mr. Harris accompanied her."

--------

Willow had dissolved the glamour as soon as they rented a car at the airport. The dark haired slayer looked at the witch.

"So, where do we start?"

"Let's try Dr. Jackson's. If we need to do some intimidating, we might as well scare the guy that won't be joining the Council."

"And if he isn't there?"

"I'm betting that his place is still being watched. We'll just use the watchers to find Buffy."


	17. Chapter 17

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

She was back in the cage. The pain. She had really screwed up this time. No Scooby Gang backup. No vampire lover to bail her out. No Giles. She was alone and helpless. How long had she been there? She was losing track of time but it seemed like she had been there forever. The beatings were started off as daily events. Now they seemed to be random, sometimes daily, sometimes not. She had been drifting and out of consciousness lately so she couldn't be sure anymore. No more punning, all she could do was endure and she wasn't sure she could keep even that up. Oh God, she could see them coming for her again. She tried to scuttle toward the back of the cage as she heard the tumblers in the lock turn and the door swing open. 

In the infirmary JT had dozed off in the chair next to Buffy's bed. In the next room monitors began to signal a sudden change in her heart rate. He woke up to the sound of her thrashing in the midst of a nightmare as a nurse came into to check on Buffy.

Buffy awoke with a start. She looked around the room in fear breathing heavily.

"Buffy, it's okay. You're safe."

"I was back there."

"That was a long time ago. Go back to sleep."

Half an hour later the monitors went off again as she woke up from another nightmare. This time Dr. Warner accompanied the nurse.

"Miss Summers, I can give you a light sedative. It will help you sleep."

"No. No drugs." She sent a look to JT. "It will be okay. Just trying to used to sleeping in bed again."

Warner didn't believe her but left with the nurse, not wishing to agitate her further.

"Buffy, you have got to rest."

"I know. It's just that I keep finding myself back in that damn cage and you're not there." She rolled onto her side and reached out her hand. "I need you here, not in that chair."

xxxxxx

General Hammond was still speaking with Dr. Langford when Major Davis arrived.

"General Hammond, Agents Riley and Samantha Finn are here."

"Have them come in. And send for SG-1, Dr. Warner, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Thorsonn. It's time that we all get on the same page. Dr. Langford, I'd like you to stay as well. I'd appreciate your input on this."

xxxxxxxx

Faith strolled back to the car where Willow was waiting.

"No one home?"

"Nope. But you were right about the surveillance. Anything from Giles?"

"He hasn't heard from Xander or Buffy. He's been trying to contact Riley but hasn't gotten a response yet."

"So, do we go in kickin' ass?"

"I'm leaning towards more towards a more subtle approach, something like a trojan horse."

"A cond...oh, wait, that thing from the Brad Pitt movie."

"Do you do that on purpose?"

Faith grinned. "Well yeah, it used to drive Giles and Robin up the wall. Messed with Xander's head too. So, we're going to swipe their van and sneak in?"

"No, we introduce ourselves and hitch a ride to the base. And we keep it nice and friendly as long as they play nice."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we kick ass."

In the end, the other side didn't play nice. Willow let Faith work off some of her excess energy on the four guys in the "utility truck." She was pleased to see that the dark slayer hadn't fallen back on old habits. Faith was pulling her punches. When help arrived from a second vehicle, Willow just put the additional players to sleep. The final score, Council 7, Flyboys zip.

Faith placed the four men that were lying on the ground into the truck with the other three.

"They look so peaceful lying there. It seems a shame to wake them up."

"Well we need one awake. Pick one."

Faith looked them over. "Kinda like the looks of this one." She straddled the unconscious man and patted him down a little too thoroughly.

"Faith..."

"Hey, just checking for any extra weapons that he might have on him." She grabbed his dog tags on the third pass. "Okay, we have one Captain Graham Simmons, Air Force."

Willow reversed the spell. Simmons regained consciousness to find a goth chick sitting on his hips, her hands pinning his shoulders to the floor of the van. Faith grinned as he paled. "Wanna phone home?"

xxxxxxxx

"Dr. Warner, you didn't bring Mr. Thorsonn?"

"I thought it best that he remain with Miss Summers. His presence seems to be the only thing allowing her to sleep."

"I'll defer to your judgment for now. Major Davis, please play the video clip for the benefit of our guests."

After the video finished, Xander was the first to comment. "Someone went back in to pull the security tapes?"

"Part of the clean up crew. Couldn't leave that stuff where it could be found, although the tapes and everything else were supposed to have been destroyed when the project was shut down."

"Agent Finn, what was the project hoping to achieve?"

"The official purpose was to contain the 'Hostile Subterestrial Threat' but the project head and some of the project's backers were actually trying to harness the abilities of the demons to produce a demon/human hybrid soldier. That tape shows just how bad an idea that was. The prototype staged the massacre to provide the body parts necessary to create his own hybrid soldiers. The resulting mess was enough to shut the project down. The surviving military members were reassigned to a new program that stuck to the original mission of the Initiative, locate and neutralize HSTs. We mostly work outside the borders of the US and we try to avoid southern California whenever possible."

"And don't think that we didn't appreciate that."

"Mr. Harris?"

"The project director, Prof. Walsh, tried to kill Buffy. She sent her into an ambush with a defective weapon. Then the Initiative's scientists used Willow's boyfriend as a lab rat and not in 'a how fast can he run the maze' way. They were more into what happens when you use a cattle prod on the guy strapped to the table. Really not sorry to see them leave town. Riley was an exception since he tried to rescue the friend."

The sick feeling in the General's stomach was coming back. "I can see why the evidence was supposed to be destroyed. Does anyone know why it wasn't?"

"One of the backers apparently kept copies of some of the materials. He wasn't happy that the project was shut down and wanted to try again. He was also in favor of Prof. Walsh's attempt to eliminate the Slayer. Most of the others behind the scenes realized that we had been in way over our heads. They were content to let the Slayer and her friends handle the HSTs. The new program is just a shadow of the Initiative. No grand plans, we just try to keep the numbers of the HSTs down to a manageable level."

"Are to we assume that Vice-President Kinsey was one of the backers who disagreed with the decision to shut down the Initiative?"

"Yes, and he was apparently the source of the leak although it was actually an intern who passed the information to Major Davis. From what Agent Barrett implied, Kinsey thought that giving you the tapes would somehow do damage here."

"Kinsey has tried on numerous occasions to take over or subvert this program. He has come very close on two occasions. Unfortunately for his career, he overstepped some very important boundaries on the last attempt. His resignation is imminent."

"So when the investigation into Miss Summers began, he must have seen it as a way to strike back at her or us."

"Indeed, MajorCarter. And he nearly succeeded. Given the information that AgentFinn and XanderHarris have provided about WillowRosenburg, it is most fortunate that Miss Summers has coming to no lasting harm while here."

An airman entered the briefing room and passed a note to General Hammond.

"Kinsey may yet succeed. Willow Rosenburg and another young woman have taken out both teams watching Dr. Jackson's home. They are heading this way."

"General Hammond, now might be a good time to let me go topside and let her know that there is no reason to get unduly upset."

"Xander's right. We still have time to diffuse this situation."

"I agree. Agent Finn, I'd like either you or your wife to accompany Mr. Harris."

xxxxxxx

As they left Davis at the security check point, Riley turned to Xander. "So what actually happened to Sunnydale? We got word a few months ago that something big went down. You guys seemed to drop off the map after that although we heard that Spike had turned up in LA."

"Just another apocalypse averted. The First Evil used the imbalance that Willow and the rest of us had created when we brought Buffy back to get a foothold in our reality. It tried to wipe out the Slayer line and pretty much succeeded in wiping out the Council as well. Buffy took the fight to it and found a way for Willow to activate the remaining Potentials. Closing the hellmouth took out Sunnydale. After that, we split up. The idea was to find the new Slayers and rebuild the Council. Giles returned to England to salvage what he could from the old headquarters and to see if he could get control of the Council assets. Buffy and Dawn went to Italy. Willow and Kennedy headed down to South America. Faith and Robin took some of the mini-Slayers to the Cleveland hellmouth. I headed off to Africa."

"What about Anya?"

"Anya fell at Sunnydale."

"I'm sorry Xander." Riley slowed down as they neared the guard house at the perimeter. "So, how's the rebuilding working out?"

"Not as well as I'd like. It's hard to find good researchers. That's how Buffy and I ended up here. We tried to recruit Dr. Jackson and Dr. Langford. Turns out we should have researched **_Dr. Jackson _**better. And now Buffy has added a new boyfriend to the mix which is how we really ended up here. He gave us the heads up about the good doctor but the shit still hit the fan."

"So the new boyfriend, that would be the mysterious Mr. Thorsonn?"

"Yep, I fill you in on that one as soon as Willow and Faith get here. Oh, and just as a heads up, Buffy's changed a bit since the last time you saw her."


	18. Chapter 18

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

After Xander and Riley left the briefing room, General Hammond turned to Dr. Warner. 

"Have Mr. Thorsonn's test results come back yet?"

"Yes, his DNA matches Col. O'Neill's. What I don't understand is why. Mr. Thorsonn is in his early thirties not sixteen and his body shows an excessive amount of wear and tear. If he had been exposed to something that rapidly aged him, I might expect to find signs of strain on his internal organs, which I didn't find, but he has a number of scars that look to have been acquired over a period of years. His MRI shows evidence of several old fractures in his ribs and his left arm."

Sam Finn was confused. "Excuse me, but why would the DNA be identical? Unless you have a sixteen-year-old colonel hiding somewhere?"

"Last year, Col. O'Neill was the subject of an unauthorized experiment. The scientist involved didn't realize that a marker had been placed in the colonel's DNA to prevent the type of experiment that was attempted. The end result was a fifteen-year-old clone instead of an adult one."

"I wasn't aware that the Air Force was involved in researching cloning technology."

"We aren't but an allied government is."

"Okay, so your teenage clone is now in his early thirties. Any chance that he did some dimensional traveling?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, from what your doctor has said, he probably wasn't aged using some sort of technology since he shows evidence of injuries more than a year old. The same goes for any sort of mystical aging. So he has all of the signs of getting there the hard way. Time in other dimensions, though, don't necessarily run at the same rate as ours. So, if he spent some time in one, he could appear to have aged quite rapidly. I don't have any direct experience with other dimensions but I'm aware of instances of dimensional travel. A group of demons in one dimension specialized in abducting street people as slaves and returning them later that day, our time, when they became too old to work."

"That sounds like the dimension that Mr. Thorsonn and Ms. Summers were in. He claimed to have spent about fifteen years there, while Ms. Summers was there for two years."

**_"Two years?"_** Now Sam Finn was really confused. "It shouldn't have taken her that long to get out. What happened?"

"Apparently they remembered her from the previous visit. Short version, she was captured and badly injured. Mr. Thorsonn rescued her. Afterwards, they had a problem locating and accessing the portal."

xxxxxxx

Xander saw the "utility van" pull up towards the guard house and motioned to Riley that they should hurry up.

"Are you sure that's Willow?"

"Same type of van that they used near Dr. Langford's. Besides, I recognize Willow's driving style." That last comment was made as the van scraped one of the gates. "Not as bad as Buffy's, but you should see her insurance rate."

The van pulled off to the side just inside the entrance and stopped. Willow got out of the driver's seat and waited by the van. She scanned the area for threats, both obvious and hidden. Her hair began to darken as she noticed several sniper positions.

"Willow, we're okay."

"Xander." She gave him a warm hug before acknowledging his companion. "Riley, we've been trying to contact you."

"These folks specialize in confiscating telephones and such. I've been out of touch for a bit."

"So, Willow, you take out the surveillance teams all by your lonesome?"

"No, I brought Faith along. She took out the first team. I took care of the backup. Faith?" Willow sighed. "I think she's having a little too much fun with her soldier boy."

The three walked around to the back of the van. Xander opened the rear door as Faith got up off a flushed young man with disheveled clothing. Faith hopped out of the vehicle while the young man scooted towards the front of the van, only to be stopped by the pile of sleeping bodies in his way. At least Xander hoped they were sleeping.

"Faith you didn't?"

"What? Come on Xan, you know how I get after a good fight." She laughed at the look on Xander's face. "Just kidding. Non-con is wrong. I'm reformed now remember? Just having a little fun. No harm."

"The poor guy is going therapy by the looks of him. What's with the other guys in the van?"

"Sleep spell. Willow says they'll wake up in a couple of hours." Faith looked around. "So, where's B and her new boy? It's not Riley again is it?"

"Buffy's in the infirmary but she's going to be okay. Riley is here with Sam."

"The Initiative?" Willow's hair turned a shade darker.

"No. But we really need to do better background checks. Dr. Jackson is involved in a different top secret project. I don't have all the details yet but I wouldn't be surprised to run into Mulder or Scully. But I think the guys running this project are actually numbered among the good guys. The general did not look happy about the Initiative was up to."

Willow's hair stopped darkening, but it didn't get any lighter either. "And Buffy?"

"There was an ambush waiting for us when we got here. Wait, she'll be okay but just let me finish before you lose it. They did a background check on Buffy after she contacted Dr. Jackson. The photos she left him raised a lot of red flags for them. Anyhow, the investigation tipped off a mutual enemy, one of the backers of the Initiative. He passed them just enough information from the old Initiative files to give them the wrong idea about Buffy. I'm not sure what they thought she was but they did use non-lethal force on us. The problems was they didn't know she was pregnant and the stun guns they used can cause a miscarriage."

"So B's fine, they just killed her baby?"

"No, the baby's going to be okay too. Its just that she has to stay in bed for a couple of days, just to be safe."

"So, how does her new boyfriend fit in?"

"JT is the clone of one of the base's officers. He was a surprised as we were by the reception and he is not having warm and fuzzy thoughts about his old CO or his old teammates, including Dr. Jackson. I don't think they knew about the ambush though, at least Dr. J didn't. He got shot too."

"And JT is where?"

"He's in the infirmary with Buffy."

Willow's hair began to return to its normal bright red. "I want to see her. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, they sent Riley and I up to escort you into the mountain."

"Why didn't they send one of their own?"

"Your reputation precedes you. I told JT that I had telephoned Giles and that I thought that he would send you if we disappeared. JT warned the general that he had better release us before you got here. Of course, since Buffy is bedridden at the moment, we couldn't leave. Once Riley confirmed what you are capable of, the general agreed it would be better to send out a couple of friendly faces and hope you didn't level the base."

"Any guarantees they won't shoot us?"

"Well no, but I'm pretty sure that if they were going to try something they'd have done it already. But like I said, I think that these are the good guys. They were just fed bad intel. Riley?"

"The guy who fed them the information about Buffy really has it in for these guys. He's also not a fan of Buffy's. He was all for the Initiative and Prof. Walsh's research. He backed up her decision to eliminate Buffy. I guess he thought that they might take care of Buffy or she would take care of them."

"They don't know about Faith do they?"

"Nope. I didn't hint that you might bring someone along. I thought that you'd bring Kennedy though."

"We haven't been working out too well so I left her with the mini-Slayers. Besides, I figured Faith could use a break from babysitting."

"Ah, speaking of Faith..." Riley looked around nervously.

"Right behind you. Graham was trying to slip away." Faith had a tight grip on the Air Force captain. "I think he doesn't like us."

"Well you do play a bit rough. Let the poor guy go. I'm sure he won't go too far." Willow gave Simmons a stern look. "Why don't we head into the mountain and talk with your CO?"

"You trust them?"

"Not really but we do need to get Buffy out of there."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Once inside the base, they were met by Major Davis who attempted to escort them to the briefing room.

"No, Buffy first, General later."

"But she's not allowed any visitors. If you'll just meet with the general first, we can things straightened out so that you get her out of here as soon as she is ready.

Xander took pity on the major. "She's got her resolve face on. You might as well let her go the infirmary. I'll go the briefing room. Faith? Riley?"

"Briefing room."

"I'll go to the infirmary. I think Simmons should probably head there as well. I think he's going into shock. And Major Davis, you might want to have the rest of your men in the van sent to the infirmary. Faith said that they should wake up in a couple of hours but you might want to make them a bit more comfortable in the meantime."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Dr. Warner was returning to the infirmary as Willow, Riley and Simmons arrived. He immediately had a nurse take Simmons away for examination.

"What happened to him?"

"A girl who likes to play a little. Some guys feel a bit overwhelmed by her."

"Willow, I think most guys who have run across Faith feel more that a bit overwhelmed by her."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Very funny. Doctor, can we see Buffy?"

"You can go in briefly but please do not disturb her. She's finally settled down. She woke up from a couple of nightmares earlier this morning."

Willow entered first with Riley and the doctor following. Her friend looked worn out. The man wrapped around her wasn't in great shape either. They were both so thin. She took note how protective he seemed even in sleep.

"Is that JT?"

"Yes. That's Mr. Thorsonn. Now, if you will both follow me, I'll bring you up to date on Miss Summers' condition."


	19. Chapter 19

Title: Rebuilding

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy, Stargate, or Angel. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

Xander and Faith headed towards the briefing room with one of the SFs as an escort.

"Ya know Xander, with all the cute guys here maybe I should rethink my career options," Faith's voice trailed off they turned the corner and saw a couple more men in BDU's.

"Don't think so Faith."

"Huh?"

"The military has a rule about fraternization."

"How would you know?"

"The Halloween that I spent as military guy."

"Okay so, I learn the rule."

"The rule is no messing around with anyone in your chain of command. And since we both know how well you follow the rules, you might want to think twice about enlisting. Do you really want to see the inside of a military prison?"

"Killjoy. Still, maybe I can get assigned to our Colorado branch, let Kennedy do a tour in Cleveland."

"You hate the baby slayers that much?"

"No, I hate Kennedy that much."

"Don't say that within Will's hearing."

"Bloom's off that romance. Why else would I be here?"

-----

In the briefing room, the introductions were shorter this time. Faith was to busy ogling Teal'c (no one even bothered to try the 'Murray' alias) and Dr. Jackson to pay much attention. As she would comment later, she was just the muscle, Xander could do the talking.

"Faith..." the general paused.

"Just Faith. I'm one of the last of the old-style slayers."

"Old style?"

"The Council used to remove Potentials from their families. Dropping your family name, just part of the drill."

"I see."

"Besides, there's this whole coolness factor. Cher, Madonna."

"Charo." The last comment was from Teal'c.

There were several people snickering when Xander suddenly closed his eyes.

"Ah, crap. Willow's pissed again."

-----

Willow and Riley left the infirmary after conferring with Dr. Warner. Two SFs trailed at a discrete distance.

Willow spoke softly to Riley. "I think the doctor's underestimating Buffy. We can probably get her out of here by tomorrow."

"I don't know Willow. She looks pretty wrung out."

"I've seen her come back from worse. Once, Angel nearly drained her and she was on her feet the next day."

"What!"

"He'd been poisoned, the only cure was a slayer's blood. Buffy pretty much forced him to drink her. Anyhow, the next day she was back at school planning to how to stop the mayor's ascension, a little shaky but mobile."

Their conversation was cut short as they reached the end of the corridor and the SFs got closer as they waited for the elevator to open. When it did, they got an unpleasant surprise when Colonel McNamara, formerly of the Initiative, stepped out. An onlooker would have been hard pressed to say who was more surprised but it was McNamara who found his voice first.

"Well if it isn't the anarchist and the little witch. No magic gourd this time? And where is the rest of your band of misfits? I'm glad to see that you're under already under guard." McNamara spoke to the closest SF. "You are taking them to a holding cell?"

One of the SF's spoke up. "I'm sorry, sir. I have orders to bring them to the general's briefing room."

"Who gave you those orders airman?"

"Major Davis, sir."

"Well, airman, **_Colonel_** O'Hare is ordering you to escort them to the brig."

"Colonel?"

"Do you have a problem with that order?"

"No sir."

The Colonel missed the warning signs of impending disaster as Willow's hair began to darken. Riley did not and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Sir, I don't think you understand the situation sir. General Hammond is aware of Miss Rosenburg's presence on the base."

"Oh, I think I do understand Agent Finn. You are in the company of a civilian insurrectionist, in one this country's most secure facilities. I didn't agree with letting you return to the military after the Sunnydale affair."

Riley, I'll take care of this. 

Willow? 

Yep. Just make sure our 'escorts' don't get in the way. 

"You should have been shot for treason or sentenced to spend the rest of your life in a military prison. You're a loose ..."

What are you... 

Riley's mind stopped for a minute. Fortunately, the guards were also having trouble processing what they had just seen so it really didn't matter. They had seen some weird stuff since being posted to the SGC but this was above and beyond. It wasn't every day they saw a colonel in the United States Marine Corps become a small, yapping, grey dog. Shorthaired of course.

As the small dog struggled to extricate itself from its former uniform, it continued yapping.

Willow knelt near the dog and tried to pick it up. After it lunged and tried to take a bite out of her, she conjured a muzzle on it. Grabbing the squirming ratdog, she stood. "I think its time I met the General. Uh, guys?"

"The briefing room is this way. I can't believe you did that."

"I don't fancy seeing the inside of a cell. Do you? Besides, I owe him for Oz. I'll turn him back, eventually."

As they stepped into the elevator, the witch's hair rapidly returned to its normal hue.

----

"Mr. Harris?" When the young man failed to respond, the general repeated himself.

"Sorry. A bit of information overload. Willow and Riley just had a run in with Colonel McNamara."

"There's no Colonel McNamara on this base."

"Well, that's the name he went by in Sunnydale. Fiftyish, greying hair, just under six feet tall, arrogant S.O.B. He headed up the Initiative after Professor Walsh was killed. I didn't realize he made it out. Sam?"

"Riley and Graham were told he was killed in action."

"Apparently he has friends in high places." The general knew he was getting an ulcer. "And how do you know he's here?"

"Willow. She's kind of telepathic."

"Telepathic?"

"She's not really telepathic so if you're worried about her eavesdropping into your mind, don't be. It's more of a projection of her thoughts. Most people need to be very close even to be on the receiving end. Her connection with Buffy and I is unusually strong so we don't need to be as close to 'hear' her."

"So she doesn't actually read minds?"

"She can if we want her to, we have to think at her. She's very careful about not opening mind her mind too much. A few years ago we found out about the downside of being truly telepathic. A friend nearly went mad because she couldn't block out other people's thoughts. Humans aren't able to cope with all the static."

Hammond filed the information away for a future time. At the moment, he was more concerned about the identity of the Initiative leader and what action Miss Rosenburg might take.

"GeneralHammond, Colonel O'Hare fits XanderHarris' description."

Hammond been certain that during his absence from the SGC Kinsey had taken the opportunity to put his own people in place. A number new personnel were brought in while Dr. Weir had been in charge. Most of them had been just as rapidly transferred out when he returned but O'Hare was one that he hadn't been able to remove. With Colonel O'Neill out of commission, he had been under intense pressure to keep the colonel on. Now he might just have the proof he needed to have him removed.

"Hi guys."

Willow, Riley, and two SFs entered the briefing room. Willow held a small chichuahua in her arms.

"What's that dog doing here?"

"You're in charge here?" Willow set the dog down on the table. When he looked to bolt, she glared at it. The dog sat down, growling behind its muzzle.

"I'm General Hammond."

"Well, this dog is one of the Initiative's finest." With a wave of her hand, she turned the dog back into a Marine, albeit one with a muzzle and nothing else on. "Oops, forgot the clothes." She wasn't, however, inclined to provide any.

Xander rolled his eyes while Faith took a brief look at the furious, naked colonel.

"Well, that's a disappointment."

Daniel and Major Carter were finding it difficult not to laugh at her comment. They both detested the man for his overbearing attitude and this certainly would take him down a few notches.

General Hammond ordered the SFs to remove O'Hare/McNamara from the room and find him some clothes after placing him in a holding cell.

"I don't suppose you'd care to tell me how you did that?"

"I'm a witch. I used magic. And no," she said as she saw the blonde woman open her mouth, "I'm not going to explain any further. So, I'm going to assume that you didn't know about the colonel."

"I had my suspicions that he was a plant but no proof. I still don't have the proof."

Xander spoke up. "General, I'm pretty sure that if you examine that tape closely you'll probably find your proof."

"Perhaps. At least I have probable cause to have him locked up for now." He looked at the assembled group. "Miss Rosenburg, I understand that you wanted to speak to Dr. Warner."

"Riley and I spoke to him before McNamara turned up. Warner thinks that Buffy will be okay. I'd like to get her out of here as soon as possible. The colonel may not be the only danger to her here."

"I assure you that Miss Summers is in no danger."

"So says the man who had my friends shot." Willow glared.

Support for the beseiged general came from an unexpected source.

"Will, Xander explained that he was fed bad intel."

"Faith, I appreciate that he used what he thought was non-lethal force, but it was still his decision that put Buffy's baby in jeopardy. The sooner we are out of here the happier I'll be."

"And the safer everyone else will be."

"I heard that Xander."

"Faith's right, don't be so hard on him. No permanent harm was done. Buffy and the baby are going to be okay. But you are right about leaving here. JT is not a happy camper and I'm betting that he'll want to get out Buffy out of here as soon as possible."

An airman interrupted the meeting, handing a message to General Hammond.

"Agent Finn, are you aware of an 'impending apocalypse' in LA?" He passed the note to Finn.

"No, sir. Willow?" He read the brief note.

"There's nothing scheduled for another five years."

Carter leaned over to Daniel, "a scheduled apocalypse?"

"Maybe JT can explain it," he whispered.

"Our seers think it has something to do with Wolfram & Hart."

"Deadboy's at it again. Riley can I hitch a ride?"

"Sure. General, can we requisition some transport to LA?"

"Yes, but can you explain what's going on?"

"Willow?"

"You go on ahead, I'll fill them in. How about I meet you at the Hyperion?"

"That'll do. Sam, Xander, Faith, you're with me. Sir." The four left the room.

"Miss Rosenburg, will you explain what's going on?"

"Wolfram & Hart is a demonic law firm. If you ever wondered how some people could get away with just about anything, they probably had Wolfram & Hart on retainer. Angel, or as Xander likes to call him, Deadboy, is the current CEO and an old boyfriend of Buffy's. He has a mixed record. He's helped save the world and tried to destroy it. It used to depend on whether or not he had a soul at the time. He worked with us in '97 to save the world only try to send it to hell a year later after he lost his soul. Buffy saved the world by that time by sending him to hell instead. When he came back, he had his soul again and helped us stop another big bad in '99. After that, he went to LA and started Angel Investigations, fighting the good fight. A year ago, he was offered Wolfram & Hart. We don't know why he took it but after that, we just didn't trust him or any of his associates."

"And you think that he's trying to end the world again?"

"If he's lost his soul again, yes. And as the head of Wolfram & Hart he'd have the resources to do it. "

"Can he be stopped?"

"Probably. As I said, Buffy stopped him once before. Faith is almost as good and she's got more back up than Buffy did. If he still has a soul, it could be that things may have just spun out of control. In that case, the odds just got even better."

"You're serious aren't you?"

"This isn't the first apocalypse we've tried to stop and it probably won't be the last. We've lost a lot of people over the years and we will lose more. We may laugh and make jokes about it but we know what the stakes are."

"I see."

"I doubt it. Our world is something that most people need to see before they can believe and even then they try find ways not to believe. You've only seen a very small portion of our world and even now do you believe what you have seen? Or are you trying to find scientific reasons for everything?"

"Point taken."

"Dr. Jackson, I've read some of your work and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to spend some time with you. Maybe the Council can arrange to borrow you from time to time. If your early work is an indication of your potential, we'd really like you on board even if only on parttime basis." She turned back to the general. "I'd appreciate it if you'd let Buffy know where we are heading. Oh, and by the way, you **_do_** realize that the guy with the mark of Apophis isn't quite human don't you?"

With that, Willow disappeared.

"Well, that was interesting."


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

Title: Rebuilding 

Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy or Stargate. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them.

* * *

The next afternoon, JT was sitting in Hammond's office. 

"I'm being transferred to the Pentagon later this week. Dr. Weir will be put back in charge of the SGC until a permanent replacement can be found. With O'Hare out of the picture, she'll need need somebody with your experience. I'd like you to come back to the SGC."

"And hang around until Carter and Daniel figure out how to fix the original and then get kicked to the curb again? I don't think so sir. Even forgetting the part where a fifteen-year-old Air Force colonel wasn't practical, it was made very clear when this first happened that there was only room for one Jack O'Neill at the SGC."

"But you are Jack O'Neill, the only one we have."

"No sir, I'm not. Jack O'Neill is napping in the Antarctic. Given time, Carter will figure something out. Until then, she and Daniel can babysit Weir. I'm JT not Jack. Sure, the core personality is pretty much the same, or at least it was. I'm really not so sure about that anymore. But I had to become somebody else since I couldn't be Jack. I'm Jonathan Thorsonn, JT to my friends. I haven't been Jack for a very long time. Did anyone actually stop to thing about the insanity of placing a fifty-year old man in high school as a student? Sure, I looked like a kid but I wasn't. There was no way that 'Jack' was going to fit into high school. How was I supposed to relate to my supposed peers? I was older than most of their parents for crying out loud. Doing the buddy thing or worse, dating, just wasn't an option if I was Jack. There was no way for me to survive without consciously becoming someone other than Jack. I couldn't **_be_** Jack. It took months for me to figure that out but I knew that even before my trip to hell."

"Well, you don't need to worry about high school anymore."

"But now the paperwork is a bigger problem. O'Hare's paperwork didn't stand up once you had a starting point."

Hammond conceded the point. Once he had a positive ID on the infamous video, he was able to quickly track down O'Hare's real identity and paperwork. Ironically, McNamara hadn't been his real name either.

JT continued. "You have to admit the original plan was iffy at best anyway. Faking school records was one thing and with a general as a sponsor, the Academy was pretty much a given. But by the time I finished, you would almost certainly be retired and wouldn't be able to pull too many strings to get me assigned to the SGC. Sure, the current Pentagon brass was thought it was a good idea but by then? Who knows? Let's face it, Kinsey made it within a heartbeat of the Presidency. He still is. He would have had you and SG-1 out of the mountain so fast it wouldn't have been funny. I figure he would have either found you some nice posting in Greenland or maybe a permanent stay in the stockade. If he figured out who I was, I'd probably have ended up as a lab rat for some NID geek."

"You've spent a lot of time thinking about this haven't you?"

"Didn't have much else to do for a long time."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Rebuild my life. For starters, get married. After that, I'll join up with the Watchers' Council, at least for a while. I've spent the last fifteen years learning to fight demons and how to survive in a hell dimension. I'll make a damn good survival instructor and the lack of legitimate paperwork won't be so much of a problem with that group. Besides, you've seen Jack's file, I may be no where near Daniel's level and I'm a bit rusty, but I do have some useful language skills and should make a fairly decent researcher."

"True. As smart as certain members of SG-1 are, I'm surprised they never figured it out."

"Of course, I will also try to recruit Daniel, at least on a part-time basis. I can handle translating the stuff they have in Goa'uld but the Council still has lots of stuff that needs translating that he'd love to get a look at."

"We might be able to work something out."

"Just think, good relations with the Council might lead to some allies that are actually around when you need them. This will be the first generation of slayers with a chance to make some of their own choices. Maybe some will choose to fight the Goa'uld rather than vampires."

"I'm not sure the SGC is ready for that if they are anything like Faith. I understand that Captain Simmons will be seeing McKenzie for the foreseeable future."

"Don't worry sir. Buffy assures me that Faith is unique."

-----

"You're as bad as Jack, sorry, as bad as JT. The doctor wants you spend at least another 24 hours in bed."

"Daniel, I don't like hospitals and am not too fond of military bases. The baby and I will be fine. I'll take it easy for a few days but I want out now."

Buffy moved behind the privacy curtain and proceeded to get dressed.

"So will you be staying in the area?"

Buffy came out from behind the curtain. "Xander will be. He's still looking for a workable property. JT and I will head to Cleveland for the time being. Once we have his new paperwork, we'll probably head to England. After that, I don't know. It could be awkward if we came back here. Somebody might recognize JT."

"I don't know. We should have picked up on it sooner than we did and we were, are, closer to Jack than anybody else. Maybe he could keep the beard?"

"Or maybe we could come up with decent cover story for once. Maybe make JT the Colonel's son. I mean with the current age difference we could pass him off the son of an old high school girlfriend."

Daniel snorted. "Oh, Jack would just love that."

"So would JT. Seriously though, I don't know if he is ready to come back here just yet."

"You're right." JT stepped into the room. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep."

"So you and Miss Summers are riding off into the sunset?"

JT smiled. "Into the sunrise actually. And it will be Mrs. Thorsonn as soon as we can get the paperwork in order. New identity, new family, new job. But don't worry, I've already spoken with Hammond, we'll be in touch."

-----

Two days later, Hammond and SG-1 watched a tape of the CBS Evening News.

"There is still no word on what caused the destruction of the prominent LA law firm of Wolfram & Hart earlier this week. Speculation is that a there may have been a gas leak that caused the massive explosion that leveled their downtown office. Officials believe that the building was evacuated before the incident. However, several individuals including the CEO and several department heads are listed as missing.

"And in a follow up to last night's lead story, the White House has announced the immediate resignation of Vice-president Kinsey following what has been described by witnesses as mental breakdown on Capitol Hill.

"Kinsey, who is currently at Walter Reed Hospital, allegedly began barking during a Senate Arms Committee meeting. He then bit several Secret Service agents who attempted to remove him from the room.

"We will have additional information about both incidents tonight at 8 on a special edition of 48 Hours.

"This is Dan Rather reporting from Washington, good night."

Daniel looked around. "You don't think..."

"No, I don't think. Neither do you. Plausible deniability Dr. Jackson, plausible deniability."

* * *

Disclaimer for the Disclaimer: I still don't own Buffy, Stargate, or MASH (reread carefully, two descendants of MASH characters are at the SGC). I don't own CBS News or 48 Hours either. All characters will be returned the their proper owners when I finish playing with them. Only thing is, I'm not through with them yet (although I'm pretty sure I'm done with Dan Rather). Yes, there are sequels on the way. What really happened to JT and Buffy in the hell dimension? And what's Jack O'Neill going to do when he finds out what mini-Jack has been up to? 

I'd like to thank everybody that took the time to review this story and encourage me. I hope you aren't too disappointed with the ending. 'Bye for now.


End file.
